


Danganronpa: Recapitulation

by Ainana_chu, mirairai



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dangan Ronpa Fusion, Angst, Anxiety, Blood and Gore, Cannibalism, Cussing, F/M, Holding Hands, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Murder, Murder Mystery, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Horror, Sharing a Bed, THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED OKAY, apologies for killing almost everyone and make everyone else suffer -w-, boop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:00:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 36,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26156140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ainana_chu/pseuds/Ainana_chu, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirairai/pseuds/mirairai
Summary: It's the day of the most anticipated concert of all time. IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, Re:Vale and ZOOL have gathered together to perform the most popular concert yet. The tickets sold out in mere seconds, and the idols couldn't wait to stand on stage together once again. All the groups were in their dressing rooms, preparing for what would seem to be a night of fun.That's when the lights go out, and everyone loses consciousness.After some time, everyone begins to slowly wake up. Not sure how much time has passed, the idols decide to head to the stage, and notice Kinako in the center, smiling its rabbit smile. But it felt... Off.And then Kinako starts talking."Welcome beloved idols to this coveted stage of legends.Here you shall put on a show that will go down in history!"A Danganronpa au cause we like suffering ha ha
Relationships: Izumi Iori/Kujou Ten, Izumi Iori/Nanase Riku, Izumi Iori/Yaotome Gaku, Izumi Mitsuki/Nikaidou Yamato, Ousaka Sougo/Yotsuba Tamaki, Takanashi Tsumugi/Yaotome Gaku
Comments: 14
Kudos: 54





	1. Prelude

Tenn typically wasn't the type of person to let his guard down, always keeping alert and not showing weakness. However, he could not find the willpower in him to keep vigilant. He was just so tired... Darkness swam through his vision and he felt relaxed. Muscles lax; he felt something trickle into his mouth and he fell into deep sleep.

When Tenn finally woke up his entire body felt sore and the lights directly above felt much to bright, harshly so. There was a slight musty smell of dust and nostalgia. The place he was in definitely felt familiar, the thought sticking to the back of his head, yet he couldn't quite grasp the answer. After a bit of time had passed Tenn finally found it in himself to sit up and get a better grasp of his surroundings. Slightly reaching out his hands to push himself into sitting position from the ground he felt his hands touch something. Intrigued he firmly grabbed the object and took a better look at it to find it to be a microphone, like the ones they would use sometimes for lives as a prop of some sort. This microphone was a bit odd though. With a wide screen and many buttons, similar to the ones some would see on a karaoke microphone. Above the screen was an alto clef colored a pastel pink and his name elegantly engraved. Suspiciously he fiddled with some of the buttons but to no avail the screen remained blanks and nothing happened. Sighing he looked up and finally took note of his surroundings. Vast and open space, it was a stage. The stage was grand, overlooking a huge audience staring at him with soul less eyes and blank look on their face. Taking a better look at the audience, it was obviously not human and were dolls of some sort. It was unnerving to say the least, creepy would be more accurate, and if he was fainter of heart he likely would have fainted. 

For now he shook it off, and tried to forget about the creepy dolls sitting in the audience seat and observed the rest of his surroundings and found behind him and beside him laying down with peaceful expressions on their faces were the fellow idols of IDOLiSH7, ZOOL, Re:vale, and his other members of TRIGGER. Beside them was the same microphones Tenn had next to him when he woke up, except it seemed to be customized to each person. So far it seems like he was the only one up. There was a persistent dreadful feelings weighing heavy in his chest. Lots of things flooded his mind, countless questions, many fears. Desperately he tried to come up with ideas on how they got here? Why they were here? Where is here? Digging into the deep recess of his mind foggy memories of a joint live popped up.

~Flashback~ 

The coolness of the backstage dimly lit with only thin strings of light coming in from the lighted stage. The dull bustling if the crowd filled with excitement for the live. This was all familiar. However, this would be a live like no other. It was at the legendary Zero Arena and the idols of the time, IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, Re:vale, and ZOOL would be putting on a grand joint live. Nothing but excitement thrummed through everyone. They all gathered in a circle by stage right and in slightly hushed voices the leaders all gave a little word before the live started.

The live was soon to begin, as signalled by all of the groups' managers nearby. The leaders, all conversing with each other beforehand, turned to the rest of their groups.

Yamato grinned, hoping to shake off some of the younger idols' nerves. "Alright kids, bring it in," he laughed, raising his fist in front of him.

"Are you sure you have the right to call them kids when some of them are older than you...?" Gaku asked beside Yamato, sighing, but you could tell it wasn't a sigh of annoyance; the fond look on the gray-haired male's face was evident, even in the dim light of backstage.

Between the two, Touma sweatdropped slightly. "Is now the time you two-?" He questioned in slight disbelief, before joining the other two leaders in the laughter. Months before this, if you told him he was going to be hanging out with some of the best idols of the country, Touma wouldn't have believed you. Probably would've gotten mad and called you a liar. The ZOOL leader was glad that despite everything they had done, ZOOL was given a second chance. His own fist soon joined Yamato's and Gaku's, followed by everyone else in the other groups.

When everyone joined, Yamato let out a hearty laugh, before his expression turned to one that was mildly serious. "Now, my fellow leaders over here helped me concoct a speech for today, so now I owe them both a drink." Several laughs and groans are heard in response. "But seriously, the time leading up to this was a wild ride. There were times when people wanted to give up, to stop moving forward; hell, I'm the one who wanted to leave from the get-go. But we all fought hard to be where we are today, and the fact that we're even standing here, in Zero Arena, shows just how hard we've fought. Even after this, let's keep fighting." Yamato paused, smirking as he threw his fist higher into the air. "Now let's go give our fans a good time!" 

~Flashback end~

Those words from IDOLiSH7 leader rang in his head as he figured that must've been what had lead up to their eventual situation. Zero Arena... the place of legends. They had finally reached that place and now everything was so unsure and unsteady. He wasn't sure what to do in this odd and creepy situation filled with uncertainties. For now he went to wake up the others. Gently shaking Riku up seeing his crimson eyes sleepily flutter open, reminding him of his childhood full of happiness and joy and love for the brother who made an idol of him. He gave a small smile and gently said "Riku, wake up. This isn't a good place to fall asleep" then continuing "Could you go wake up everyone else for me?" Hearing him chirp "Mmm okay, Tenn nii" Tenn felt reassured so he moved to wake up some of the others starting at Ryuu who was fairly easy to wake with a few pokes to the cheek. Gaku however, was much more difficult and would not budge from his slumber so Tenn went to the back and grabbed a small ice cube from the fridge that he found still was running perfectly and fully stocked. Placing the ice cube on top of the sleeping silver haired man and stepping back, he watched as Gaku spluttered awake and flailed around. Tenn attempted to keep a straight face but couldn't help but let out a small snort which earned him a glare from Gaku who mummered under his breath "shitty brat". Eventually everyone woke up and was righteously confused conversing silently to themselves to get a bearing of the situation when they heard a shrill alarm sound and a flash of light that left his vision spotty for a little bit. Once his vision cleared up he could clearly see the fluffy pink rabbit that belonged to Takanashi Productions smiling creepily with an unnerving gaze.

Then the most unexpecting thing happened when that thing opened it's mouth and begun to speak... "Welcome beloved idols to this coveted stage of legends. Here you shall put on a show that will go down in history!"


	2. Fugue

Silence was all that could be heard for what seemed like eternity. Granted, a good majority of the group were still shaking themselves awake, and they had chalked it up to some wild dream that they were still waking up from.

That was quickly disproved, however, when curses spilled from Gaku's mouth.

"What. The actual. _Fuck._ "

Momo shot up from his spot on the floor, pointing at Kinako. "Since when could it talk?!" He shrieked, his gaze frantically shifting to the members of IDOLiSH7.

"We've never heard Kinako talk before!" Riku exclaimed in response, his gaze more curious if anything as he observed the pink rabbit from afar. The redhead immediately got tugged back by both Iori and Tenn though, to which he let out a quiet whine.

Yamato squinted at the pink blob. "If Kinako could always talk, why now...?" He asked no one in particular, eyeing the rabbit with suspicion.

"Why talk at all?!" Touma questioned, his voice laced with disbelief. Haruka hid himself behind the ZOOL leader, peeking out at the rabbit. Honestly, Touma might have commented about how cute the gesture was if the current situation weren't so bizarre. 

"Myuu myuu" Kinako piped up as if clearing their throat, effectively quieting the idols standing on stage to listen to what came out of this strange creatures mouth. "Now before I was so rudely interrupted by your overly dramatic reactions I was just about to sa-"

Just then a few muffled sounds came from what seemed to be below them. It sounded like screams that had been muffled by having cloth stuffed between their teeth like a gag. There was banging coming from said place which caused panic from most and suspicion from others. 

Kinako irritated flopped down from the broadcast room high above all the way down to the stage where upon impact dented causing a low pitiful groan sounded followed by an awkward silence. 

For a while no one spoke till a hushed whisper of "what the fuck" was uttered out of Gaku's mouth, anger and mirth swimming through his eyes. "Are you keeping someone down here you rabbit? What is wrong with you? What the fuck are you doing you dem-" 

Before he could say anymore Tenn covered his mouth with his hand "Be quiet you idiot" Tenn said although his hand was obviously shaking "You don't know what can happen now and I don't have a good feeling.."

"Myuuu myuuu ohhh you are better than I thought Kujou Tenn. Looks as if your intuition isn't too bad." Kinako said with a seemingly pleased expression on its face. "Well to answer your question Yaotome Gaku. I'm having you play a very special game for me to keep me entertained~" 

That unsettled feeling never left Tenn in fact it seemed to grow worse and worse with every word that rabbit had said. He didn't want to know what the rabbit had planned because it might set it into motion but there would be no moving forward to the future if nothing would be done. Therefore, he decided to bite the bullet. "What kind of game?"

"Myuu myuu I'm so glad you asked that Kujou Tenn. Its quite a simple game really~." Then for dramatic effect the rabbit paused then a sadistic smile flashed on its face before it said "A killing game of course."

Everyone stilled, particularly at the word "killing." It wasn't like they were unfamiliar with the word – if anything, the idols were exposed to that word a few too many times during their careers – but such a word usually wasn't associated with playing a _game._

Iori glared at the rabbit. "And what exactly do you mean by that?" He asked, controlled rage lacing his question.

Kinako hummed. "Myuu myuu~ valid question Izumi Iori. Basically, all of you are trapped in here," the rabbit began explaining, seemingly skipping across the floor to stop right in front of the idols. "And your only way out–" it's eyes almost glowed a sinister red as the lights slightly dimmed.

"Is to kill each other."

Silence plagued the room yet again, everyone's shocked gaze on Kinako as the bunny hopped around the room, chuckling to itself. It was almost sick, how such a cute looking creature could be so grossly happy over the dark aura that settled across the room.

Minami's gaze followed Kinako calmly. "And why should we believe you?" He questioned, to which Kinako froze and turned to look at the idols once again.

Iori nodded in agreement. "You could easily be lying to us," he stated, a pointed glare being sent in the rabbit's direction. 

"Ohh I thought you would say that Minami Natsume, Izumi Iori. Which is exactly why I prepared a little... something to prove exactly how serious I am myuuu." Kinako then hopped into the broadcasting room again, a feat of unnatural power and pressed a couple of buttons. Soon a small whirring could be heard then all of a sudden a bunch of the floorboards popped up and exploded turning into pure sawdust which caused all of the idols to start to sneeze and cough, their eyes watery and itchy. Riku was particularly bad. Tenn rushed over along with Izumi Iori and the two of them started to try run damage control. 

When the dust settled and everyone but Riku stopped coughing and sneezing, Iori giving Riku his inhaler and putting a ventilator on him, relaxing his lungs and slowed his coughs to occasional clearing of the throat. 

With all the focus on Riku and making sure that he was okay none of the idols realized there were 7 chairs with people tied up on them. Their heads obscured by potato sacks and their hands and feet bound to the chairs. Some of them were struggling to free themself from the bonds while others were passed out or remaining calm. 

The idols were rendered utterly speechless and in their reverie they were interrupted with the shrill voice of Kinako. "Since all of you don't believe me I shall give a display to all of you to show you my sincerity."

With that said Kinako, still in the broadcasting room, hopped onto a few buttons and the potato sack on one of the heads fell off to reveal one Tsumugi Takanashi. Her blonde hair matted with blood, her eyes wide with fear, and all of the restraints holding her down were released sans the one delicately wrapped around her neck.

Suddenly the words " **It's punishment time** " followed by the words " **A Manager's Role** " flashed behind the idols on stage on a screen projector. Then Tsumugi disappeared dragged around by the neck her screams audible and tears tracking down her cheek. All of IDOLiSH7 dashed toward their manager and tried in vain to save her. The rest of the idols from other groups were stunned and couldn't move. Staring in fear at the other chairs, likely filled with people they cared about as well. They had the urge to run and see if they could possibly help the others in the chairs but something kept them rooted where they were. 

Suddenly they heard a loud whirring noise and all the boys from IDOLiSH7 were plopped back down onto the stage and the screen behind them flashed red and there was a shrill noise sounding alerting them to look toward the screen. There they saw the young manager her limbs vaguely tied with transparent strings, not enough to cut off circulation but enough to control the young girls actions. She was seated in the audience seat of the stage where IDOLiSH7 performed together for the first time. Where they got only audience of only 9. A song played evident that it was meant to be an IDOLiSH7 concert. Their manager was being forced to wave lightsticks at inhuman speeds her arms moving so fast it didn't look visible anymore. Soon her arms appeared to be flailing around no longer attatched to her body. She sat slumped over evidently tired and almost unconscious before dancing beat begun to play and she was struck by lightning, only chars of her remaining her hands still grasping the lightsticks and the screen turned black. 

" **Execution complete** "

There was almost no pause before several ear-piercing screams were released. A horrified expression had made it's way to everyone's face, the words on the screen fading away and displaying Tsumugi's dead body once again.

Many of the screams belonged to members of IDOLiSH7, their gaze stuck on the massive screen in front of them. They all so badly wanted to look away from the screen, but something kept their wide eyes on their manager, who was almost unrecognizable after the execution.

Tamaki was the first one to look away, his face pale to the point that he looked like he was about to throw up. He fell to the floor, covering his mouth in an attempt to stop himself from spilling the contents of his stomach. Sogo knelt down beside Tamaki, trying to calm him down despite his own face being unbelievably pale.

Riku was in the midst of another attack, and both Iori and Tenn forced themselves to shake off their fear to help him. But when Gaku let out an angered shout, Tenn turned to his groupmates to see Ryuu struggling to hold Gaku back, while a pissed expression was on their leader's face.

"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!" Gaku yelled, thrashing against the larger male. He turned to Ryuu, his expression only growing madder by the second. "RYUU, LET ME AT IT!"

Ryuu shook his head, his grip on Gaku only tightening. "No! It'll kill you!"

"I don't give a fuck! That rabbit deserves what's coming to it for killing her!"

Leaving Riku to Iori, Tenn quickly headed over to Gaku, grabbing onto one of his flailing arms and refusing to let go. "But you don't deserve to die, Gaku. Don't do anything that'll get you killed, idiot."

Gaku was about to let out another protest, before Tenn fully back-handed him across the face, his pale eyes sending a sharp glare Gaku's way. A look of shock overtakes Gaku's rage for a moment, before he relented, his struggling ceasing. Tenn noticed the heartbroken expression that made it's way to Gaku's face when his rage slipped away, and the younger almost felt pity. It was no secret that Gaku had a liking towards Tsumugi, and now she was gone.

Iori, still helping Riku calm down, glanced back up at the screen again; he's not entirely sure why though, given that the displayed image hadn't changed at all from Tsumugi's dead body. Flashes of her smiling face from probably mere hours ago made it's way to Iori's thoughts, and guilt overtook him for a moment.

_She had done so much for them, and they could no longer pay her back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ain: I am so sorry to anyone who reads this... It only gets worse from here :D   
> Mirai: Lmao I mean they're the ones who decided to read it :)  
> Ain: RUn whIle You CaN


	3. Chapter 3: Oh jsjsjsj sHOOT (run while u can kids it gets messier as chapters go on)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ain: Despite the name of the title this is one of the nicer chapters

After the death of their precious manager, the idols were cruelly ushered away from the stage like cattle. All of the hostages, their managers, and presidents; the people who make them idols, the people they felt they could call family had to be left behind in that creepy horrid place, suffering and tied up.

It definitely did not leave a good taste in Iori's mouth. Guilt was eating up at him from not being able to protect their manager. Despite saying he was someone who she can rely on. Despite boasting about being a perfect high school student who can do everything... he couldn't do something as simple as keeping her safe.

Nanase san had passed out after he had been giving oxygen and so Iori had to carry him to the room they were assigned. It was obvious that there was much change to the place. There were dorms for everyone, the changing rooms were locked but it appeared that there was one for each of them. There was a pretty big mess hall and they had meal tickets they could get and exchange at the kitchen and somehow get food. If a mess was created mini Kinakos would come to clean it up. All of the doors leading outside were bolted shut and all windows were completely gone and cemented over. He did have to wonder where their air was coming from. He figured that there was probably vents around but he couldn't see any. There also must've been some sort of stream going outside to get their food, water, and everything needed to make this possible. He figured there must've been someone watching them otherwise Kinako would not know to come immediately when a mess happened. It would likely be very improbable for them to escape with how strictly they were being watched.

For now, rather than panicking on how they could escape, they should focus on recuperating mentally and physically lest they make any rash decisions that would end in their demise. They were all unstable and they wouldn't be able to get anything done the way they were now. In fact, he feared someone may snap and kill someone off.

When he finally got to Nanase san's dorm room he noticed there was a place to plug in what looks to be an aux cord. The room, Iori noticed was locked as well but there seemed to be no key. Suddenly a thought came into mind and he shuffled around Nanase san clothes till he came upon the microphone they had laying next to them when they had first woken up. Iori plugged the aux cord into the microphone hole into the bottom and heard a soft click. Along with the soft click came that awful shrill sound and Kinako plopped down on his head.

"Myuu myuuu! So it seems you found out how to open your dorm room Izumi Iori. Good job, you earned a gold star!" Kinako jumped up and down slapping a golden star sticker on his forehead with no gentleness. Iori was overcome with the strongest urge to throw the rabbit across the room but of course, he had enough sensibility to know that would be a bad idea so he settled on an exasperated sigh.

"What did you come here for? I know it wasn't just to attempt to irritate me." Iori huffed out rolling his eyes irritated and lingering traces of anger and resentment churning in his stomach.

"Rude~" Kinako gave what looked like a pout although he couldn't be sure because the rabbit always looked mischievous and sickeningly happy. "I was going to tell you what that lovely microphone could be used for but now I'm not in the mood anymore. Hmph~"

Iori gave a decidedly unimpressed look and sighed motioning for Kinako to continue.

Kinako looked a bit upset at the lack of response from Iori but went on to continue anyway. "Well if you insist I guess I have no choice but to tell you~. So this work of art here is your key to successful living in the Zero arena. Its called the Kinako mic. It unlocks the rooms available to you using aux cords as you saw with Nanase Riku dorm room. It also has many functions like recording, taking pictures, checking the profiles of your fellow idols, etc etc. The most exciting part is it holds rabbit files. When a person is murdered data will be collected on that person and all of that lovely information will be uploaded and able to view on your Kinako mic. You also can text the people you synch with using this aux cord but be careful you trust because anyone can use other people's Kinako mic and it'll always appear as the handler. All rules and crap are also on there so have fun exploring that Izumi Iori. Bye bye myuu. "

After the explanation, Iori watched as Kinako disappeared down the hall to god knows where (probably to go explain things to some other poor idol), before sighing in exasperation and entering Nanase san's room. He gently placed the redhead on the bed, tucking him under the blanket, before reaching up and removing the sticker Kinako had placed on his forehead. He immediately chucked it into the trash can nearby, not wanting to keep something that that creature gave him. His gaze shifted to Nanase san, who was still passed out in his bed.

Unwilling to leave Nanase san alone, Iori decided to walk around the room, looking around. He first explored the ajar door in the corner, which turned out to just be a bathroom with the bare essentials; soap, shampoo, towels (engraved with Riku's double sharp), as well as a toothbrush and toothpaste. There was nothing else of note, and Iori shut the door to the bathroom, turning back to the rest of Nanase san's dorm. He walked over to the drawers, pulling each level open. It was mostly just clothes and some personal belongings, and Iori closed the drawers quickly. He felt somewhat guilty for rummaging through Nanase san's things, but it was better than him leaving the unconscious center behind to explore his own room.

Iori quickly finished exploring Nanase san's room, since the room was majoritively empty, and sat down on the edge of the bed, contemplating what to do next. He didn't want to just do nothing; that would incite memories of the past hour that he would rather not think about.

Instead, Iori pulled out his "Kinako Mic" and began playing with the buttons until the screen lit up, displaying his information. It was mostly the basics like height, age, weight, likes, dislikes, etcetera. Although, there were some other... questionable additions, like a stat chart that showed strength, intelligence, and other things that almost seemed worrying for a killing game. Clicking another button, Iori watched his information slide off the screen, quickly replaced by another set of information and stats. Upon closer inspection, Iori realized that it was Nikaido san's information card, displaying the same attributes of his own file. Curiosity plaguing him, Iori pressed the same button, and the information switched to his brother's. Another click and Yotsuba san's info was the one being displayed on the screen. With every press of the button, the file would change to another person's, seemingly arranged by their numbers. Iori quickly went though everyone's information, only briefly scanning each file before moving on to the next one. He then went through the rest of the Kinako Mic, noting the several different things Kinako had mentioned earlier.

Just as he finished checking out all of the different settings for the Kinako Mic he heard a knock rap at the door and looked toward the sleeping redhead next to him and sighed running a hand gently through his hair seeing him unconsciously nuzzle into his hand with a goofy smile on his face. An intense feeling of protective need came over Iori. He wouldn't let harm come to their center no matter what. Iori promised he would make him a star and he wouldn't fail on his promise.

With that resolve, he pushed himself off of the side of the bed and opened the door to see Kujou san on the other side waiting patiently. When he saw it was not Riku answering the door but instead Izumi Iori he looked confused for a bit then realized that it was the younger Izumi who took care of his twin brother. Kujou san looked exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. The tired center of TRIGGER bowed gratefully to Iori and said in sort of a hushed tone, "Thank you for taking care of Riku, Izumi Iori"

Iori shook his head. "There is no need to thank me Kujou san. It's been a difficult day, he needs to rest. Just...how is Yaotome san?"

Tenn's eyes shone slightly at that and he looked down and his shoulders slumped. "He's not doing well. That idiot has always worn his emotions on his sleeve and is so overly emotional. He so righteous and..." There was a slight break in the usually professional young adult's voice. "He really liked your manager a lot; he really cared for her. I saw him often smiling at his phone during work and at home probably texting her. I- he felt the need to protect her and he just seems so volatile and angry right now but also really sad. I think he might do something dumb." Tenn let out empty laughter with no emotions behind it.

Tenn took a deep breath and collected himself. "I apologize Izumi Iori, I did not mean to ramble or break down. I am worried about him but Ryuu and I are going to be here for him. He'll heal little by little, you do not need to worry. Plus IDOLiSH7 lost their manager, I'm sure it was hard on you guys most of all. Don't let your group fall apart you guys need each other."

Iori nodded "Manager raised us right Kujou san. She wouldn't want to see us fall apart. I may not be able to pay her back fully but I won't let her down." Kujou looked approvingly at Iori then remembered why he had come.

"Also, we all decided to meet in the mess hall in 30 minutes from now. We need to figure out everything and what we are going to do from here." Iori nodded grimly "I agree, there are things that we need to discuss from here on out. There are some things that I believe the group needs to hear and I have a theory of some sort." Iori hesitated a bit checking to see if there was anyone eavesdropping then grabbed Kujous hand and rubbed the words "M-O-L-E" on the back of his hand and realization dawned on his face before it set to a serious expression and he took Iori hand and spelled out "U- S-U-R-E" Iori shook his head not being completely sure and Kujou gulped and nodded.

It was then that Riku decided to wake up and walked to see Tenn and Iori both having serious expressions, hands interlocked, and faces close together. Riku flushed red and squeaked

"Iori! Tenn nii?! What are you guys doing?"

The two of them looked at Riku like deer caught in headlights and looked at each other and jumped apart like they were burned by each other's touch.

"Riku-" "Nanase san-" "It's not what it looks like," The two of them said simultaneously which Riku nodded to.

"Alright then what were you doing then?"

"You don't need to know Nanase san. I'll tell you later." Iori said placating Riku who nodded accepting that for now.

Then Tenn sighed and said, "Well now that you are up Riku we should go on and head to the mess hall, everyone else is waiting for us."

Riku and Iori nodded following Tenn's trail till the finally reached the mess hall

Iori expected the mess hall to be loud, bustling with the energy the idols usually had when they all hung out together. Before, it was almost never quiet when the group was together; the clashing of personalities made it impossible for absolutely everyone to be quiet at any given moment, and it would drive Iori absolutely insane at times.

But as the group walked into the mess hall, the silence hit him like a train. Every idol's gaze was downcast, the negative emotions evident on their faces. Not even a single whisper could be heard among the group. To say that the quiet was not at all anticipated was an understatement, and Iori almost began to miss the chaos of the past, began to miss the times when they didn't have to worry about things like a killing game.

The times when their manager wasn't dead, and was with the eccentric group, participating in the several conversations with the idols and–

Iori shook that last thought from his head. He knew very well that the manager would hate for him to dwell over her death; if anything, she might've scolded him for even thinking about it rather than coming up with a plan to keep everyone safe. With that in mind, Iori scanned the room, identifying everyone as he sat down at one of the tables. Everyone involved was in the room, staring down at their own laps or the floor. Tenn slid himself into a seat beside Iori, placing him between the black-haired male as well as Gaku. Riku took the other side of Iori, his usual smile faded to a blank look.

It took a second, but Momo stood up from his seat, clapping his hands together with a bright smile on his face. "Alright! Now that everyone's here, let's get meeting number one started!" He exclaimed, beaming. Iori could tell that the smile was forced; it was blatantly obvious that the older idol was trying to improve everyone's spirits. An attempt that failed, if the silence in response to Momo was any consolation.

Beside Momo, Yuki stood up as well, patting his partner on the shoulder as some sign of reassurance. He turned to the rest of the idols, a serious look on his face. "This first meeting is to discuss what we should do from here, as well as go over our current living situation."

"Why should we have to consider our living situation if we're not even planning to stay?!" Gaku questioned from his seat at the table, still clearly agitated about earlier events.

Yuki shifted his gaze to Gaku, staying surprisingly calm. "If we are to make a successful get-away, we have to take our time and evaluate our options," Yuki stated, before turning back to everybody else. "We'd like to know if there are any observations any of you have made thus far. They may be useful in time."

Gaku looked like he was going to say more but Ryuu placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head "I understand you feel agitated Gaku but you need to calm down you know." Ryuu then nodded to Yuki "Plus Yuki is right. We need to work together to if we want to accomplish anything"

After Ryuu said that Gaku sat down with simply a tired look on his face. "Alright, let's go over what we found" he conceded at last.

Yuki nodded satisfied "If I were to be bold enough to start." Iori said looking towards the tables seeing nods then continued. "I assume all of know about certain things so I shall say some stand out points from me. 1. We are being watched somehow, someway. 2. There is a contact outside. 3. The technology here is new and more advanced then what we are used to." Iori then went and grabbed out the Kinako Mic. "One of the most standout examples is the Kinako Mic. After much research, I found that the Kinako Mic managed to have copious amounts of information about us. Some that even our most diehard fans do not know about. Therefore, it is easy to assume it is someone close to all of us which we can blame. The advanced technology and the rearrangement of all of this is important because it implies we were out way longer than we thought we were. The connection outside might be obvious because otherwise, we wouldn't be able to get all of our food and the technology to host something like this. Also... the place where Manager was murdere-..it was at another concert hall rather far from here so there are probably secret tunnels to connect the destination. " Iori then turned to everyone else. "Is there anything else all of you would like to add or question or should we just move on to the planning stage?"

Minami cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "It's not really an addition to the observation list, but I do have something I would like to point out."

Gesturing for Minami to go ahead, Momo grinned. "Say it! We need all the comments we can get!"

Minami smiled lightly, bowing gratefully to Momo before standing upright once again. He glanced around at the group. "We haven't really had the chance to explore everything just yet, so I was hoping that we might have the time to do it now," he said. "It would be best to learn as much as we can about our situation, and looking around the building would be a good start."

Suspicion was the first thing Iori felt at the older's suggestion. He does agree with the fact that it would be better for the group to explore the area to better understand their surroundings, but there were also some... concerns.

The only logical way to cover more ground was to split up, and obviously, that left some people more vulnerable than others. It wasn't like Iori particularly liked the thought that someone here would kill, but it was still a possibility. They may have known each other for long enough, but they've never been under these circumstances.

He hated to admit it, but absolutely anything could happen here.

Yuki's reply snapped Iori out of his thoughts. "I agree, Minami-kun. Understanding the area would be a good start to the plan." The gray-haired male looked around at everyone. "It would be best to split into pairs, for now, to cover more ground. Please pair up, and meet back here in exactly thirty minutes."

"Doesn't half an hour seem a little long?" Came Yamato's question, his arms crossing.

"Based on what I remember, Zero Arena is a massive building," Yuki pointed out, leaning forward onto the table. "We may need some additional time to look around." He paused, before stepping away from the table. "Now, please do pair up and explore as much as you can of the building."

Sougo looked around nervously, seeing something very wrong and worrying with the setup and tried to speak up but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth, so he just shut his mouth and kept silent, a complicated expression on his face. Tamaki noticed the inner turmoil within his partner and silently took his hand and motioned for him to speak what was in his mind. 

Silently telling Sougo "You don't have to be afraid to speak your mind here Sou-chan, you aren't home anymore. You don't need to be afraid of being shut up." Sougo nodded gathering his courage and spoke up.

"I apologize for saying this, but we really should be more cautious than that." Everyone turned to Sougo with questioning looks on their faces. "We have to keep in mind that we are prisoners here and the only way to escape is to play Kinako's game and kill each other."

"Oi- Ousaka, are you saying that you think that we would actually kill each other?" Gaku said. Sougo fixed his gaze on Gaku and nodded with eyes that held more sadness and wisdom that one should have at the age they were at.

"There are times where people would throw away their humanity to get what they want Yaotome san. We can't trust everyone when there is no telling what's at risk for them." Silence overtook the mess hall as everyone suspiciously looked at each other when all of their fears and worse thoughts came out into open air. "That isn't to say we should not work together of course. If we want to have any hope in this place we need to move forward, but we should do so with more caution. I suggest making bigger groups of 4, we should nominate leaders for each group and the leaders link up and keep contact with each other using the 'Kinako Mic' as an extra precaution we should all turn on the record function of the mic. This way we can assure that there will not be any rogues and when I looked at the rules on the Kinako Mic it had said that 1 person cannot kill more than 2 people. This means no one will be able to kill without witnesses."

Everyone had nodded in consent and thus they began to split into groups. They decided that the leaders of each group would take 3 charges and to avoid people pairing up to be accomplices it would be set up so that it would be completely random, with the exception of either Tenn or Iori staying with Riku to regulate his health as the two people closest to him that would know that to do in the case of an attack. Iori looked toward Tenn who looked worriedly to Riku and sighed saying that he would let Kujou san handle Nanase san. With that settled the groups were Gaku, Iori, Ryuu, and Minami with Gaku as the leader, Yuki, Torao, Sougo, and Nagi, Yamato, Tamaki, Haruka, and Mitsuki, and the final group was Touma, Riku, Tenn, and Momo. Now that all the groups were decided on the split up the arena into areas they thought most important and divided that and all of the leaders went to connect with each other while the rest turned on the recording function on their microphones. With all the prep done the groups went their separate ways to explore their way around the place that may very well become their new home.

** ~ Gaku's group ~  **

The silver-haired male led everyone down the hall, a slight grimace still noticeable on his face. He was muttering angrily to himself, and all of a sudden Iori was glad that he was far enough behind Gaku to not really be able to hear him. All the words he could hear were just curses, and even then, he wasn't sure if they were curses with how explicit the words were.

And with the people Iori hung out with, you'd think he would've heard it all by now. The adults could be real potty mouths when they were drunk.

Iori watched as Ryuu sent an apologetic look towards the two minors, before heading over to Gaku and attempting to calm him down. It did little, only ceasing Gaku's stream of profanities for the moment.

Beside Iori, Minami breathed out a soft sigh. "That was quite graphic..."

Iori didn't respond, only keeping his gaze straight ahead. He was somewhat suspicious of the other for suggesting that everyone explore, especially in a situation such as this. But even Iori knew that it was the only logical thing they could do at the moment, and he sighed. "It's understandable for Yaotome-san, considering his blatant feelings for our manager."

Minami chuckled. "Even I could tell he had feelings for her, and I haven't known you all for very long."

"You're a psychic and an actor. Noticing feelings should come naturally to you."

"Also true."

The two continued to converse as the group walked down the hall, still carefully looking out for anything interesting.

After a few minutes of walking, Gaku and Ryuu paused in front of the group, causing Iori and Minami to stop as well. Iori glanced up at the two adults, about to ask them why they stopped, before noticing what was in front of them.

It was a massive doorway, covered in red velvet fabric and embedded with what looked like small diamonds. The doors stood tall before them, even looking monstrous against Ryuu, the tallest idol in the group. Iori scanned the sign above the doors, barely able to make out the words with how high up the board was.

"Trial room..." He read out, squinting at the gold cursive letters.

Ryuu turned and glanced at the rest of the group. "Trial room?"

Suddenly the shrill sound rang through the halls indicating that Kinako would likely show up and so Iori moved toward the still obviously upset silver-haired man and grabbed his hand holding it tightly. As expected the demonic pink rabbit appeared in front of them with that same sickeningly happy expression on its face with more mirth than usual. "Myuu myuu! How exciting~" Kinako perked up "It seems like you have found the trial room myuu"

"Trial room..." Yaotome's face went pale at that and he took a step back.

"Myuuu yes trial room!" Kinako looked pleased with Yaotome's displeasure.

"Why would we need a trial room?" Iori squinted already having an inkling of the reason but hoping that he would be wrong.

"Why of course, it's for when a murder occurs myuu~! When there's a murder justice must be served so of course all of you will have to work together to find the culprit and persecute them for their crimes like true heroes of justice myuuu!!!!" Then the expression on Kinako face suddenly turned dark. "However, there is a price for failing to avenge your fellow idol myuu myuu. If you persecute the wrong person the culprit will get off scot-free, however, the rest of you will get the punishment you deserve. If you choose the right person however, you have nothing to worry about only the culprit will be punished. Anyway~ that's all I have to say to you people, I shall now take my leave myuu~ ta ta"

With that said the rabbit hopped away leaving the group blinking in confusion.

After Kinako was no longer in sight, Iori let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "I am never going to get used to seeing that rabbit..."

Minami chuckled awkwardly at Iori's words, before glancing up at the trial room door. "Hopefully, we'll never have to go in there."

Curious, Ryuu tried to open the massive doors, pulling on the handles. The doors didn't budge, and the brunet tried again with even more force. Again, the doors didn't move. He sighed, letting go of the handles and staring up at the monstrous door. "Seems like it's locked."

Finally snapping out of his confusion, Gaku shifted his gaze back to everyone else. "That rabbit..."

"Are you thinking about what it said?" Minami asked, turning to the group leader.

Iori paused for a moment to think. "Based on what it said, if someone does get murdered the only result is more death," he sighed, his eyebrows furrowing at his conclusion. "There isn't any benefit to killing anyone..."

"Yeah no shit," Gaku grumbled under his breath, before glancing at the time on his Kinako Mic. "Ah– our time's almost up here."

Ryuu stepped away from the door, heading back to the group. "Then we should start heading back. I don't want to worry the others by being late."

Nodding in agreement, Minami turned back in the direction the group came. "Let's go then, shall we?" He said, a small smile plastered on his face.

Wordlessly, the group began to walk back, Kinako's words still playing back in their minds.

By the time their group had gotten back to the mess hall it had appeared all of the groups were there sans Nanase sans group. Finally after a while of waiting everyone started to get nervous. Touma had said about an hour ago that they were coming back from their area, the dressing rooms. Iori impatiently tapped his foot on the ground fearing the worse. There was no way that they could've gotten lost. They may have gotten stopped by Kinako but that was wouldn't have taken this long. Just as Iori was about to go search for them the door slammed open and in rushed in Tenn carrying an unconscious Nanase Riku followed shortly by Momo and Touma, all of them breathless and seemingly alarmed.

Tenn swept all of the things off of the table and placed Riku down gently on top of it. Iori rushed forward and saw no physical wounds on their center and then he turned him to his side and placed an ear on his back, and heard shallow breaths and small crackles indicating an attack. Iori turned his head to Tenn and asked out in a panic "What happened? Did something trigger his asthma?"

Tenn's face contorted with hatred and he said "Kinako. I'll tell you later Izumi Iori, for now, let's take care of Riku."

Iori nodded agreeing and went pull out the inhaler he kept on him and gave it to Kujou who nodded. Trusting Kujou san could handle Nanase san Iori ran to his room where an emergency nebulizer and oxygen was kept. Quickly picking it up, he ran toward the mess hall and handed the mask to Tenn and went to go plug in the nebulizer to the wall and dripped the liquid aerosol into it. Once checking with Kujou san that the mask was secure, Iori turned on the machine. After the medicine ran out and there was a whistling going through the air, Iori went to go check on Nanase breathing relieved to hear it evened out and was stronger. With that Iori set up the oxygen and let it run while the redhead recovered.

With that situation handled Iori turned towards Tenn and nodded toward him indicating for him to tell them what happened. Tenn sighed relieved that Riku was alright for now and nodded. Once they all settled down Tenn muttered out, "Motives, that damned rabbit gave out motives"

Iori blinked "Pardon"

"We were investigating the dressing room area, which all of the doors are locked to anyway. When we came across the room which looked out of place. As opposed to all of the extravagant doors that look to be assigned to each of our groups the door was completely plain and unremarkable. However, there was this aura of foreboding surrounding it so we took some time to investigate it and Momo somehow managed to get the door unlocked. It looked to be an office of some sort. The papers tossed around haphazardly and a bulletin board with a bunch of information about us and this place. There also seemed to be lots of codes and a huge map with areas not on our map and places we couldn't find. There was so much there but we didn't much time to investigate before that damned rabbit showed up and for once seemed incredibly angry. They turned on this lever that let out this kind of smoke, which caused Riku to have his attack and went to declare that we would get 3 different motives instead of the 1 that they had planned."

Shock and silence saturated the air at the explanation Tenn gave. They all waited patiently for him to continue with what he said and he took a shaky breath and continued. "1. Every 5 hours they would release this gas that thins out the air in this place till there would be no air to breathe. 2. Every day that passed where there are no murders 2 of the hostages would be killed. 3. The first person to kill would be able to take someone else out with them if they successfully win their trial."

Iori frowned at the news, his eyebrows furrowing as his mind filled with several questions, theories and realizations. "Isn't this particularly bad for Nanase san?" He asked, glancing at the redhead. "If the quality of the air goes down every five hours, I fear he won't last as long as the rest of us."

Tenn nodded in agreement, the concern on his face becoming more evident with passing second. "His condition is already bad, and this was just the first time..." The pale-haired male fiddled with the edge of his sleeves, his eyes shifting towards his unconscious twin. "I don't want anything to happen to him..."

Everyone's worried gaze moved to Riku before they flitted between the large group. With so many motives, the worst immediately came to mind, and suspicious glares were thrown around the room. It wasn't like anyone liked believing that anyone would actually kill, but the idols know all too well where desperation could take a person. Silence was all that could be heard for what felt like an eternity, everyone's eyes glancing around the room in wariness.

Iori only sighed, attempting to shift the topic to literally anything else. The suspicious aura in the mess hall was not comfortable or ideal at all. "For now, we should worry about what our next actions will be moving forward," he stated, crossing his arms. "We have these motives in mind, as well as the room Kujou-san found." The black-haired male paused, scanning the group. "Our group found something interesting, but I think it would also be beneficial to hear if anyone else found anything."

Yamato cleared his throat "Ahem, yes, so our group did not discover anything particularly newsworthy. We looked around the mess hall and found nothing that points to a channel out of this place. We did, however, find the boiler room as well as the electrical panel. We had tried to find where the waste goes, however, we could not find anything."

Iori took in this information that there was likely a lot of rooms that they did not know about. He found it particularly dangerous to keep both of those rooms open for different reasons. The boiler room would be dangerous if by chance someone decided to blow up the place, that would be the best place because it would lead to the utter destruction of the entire place. The electrical panel could be used to shut off the lights and make it easier to catch people off guard and create a scenario for murder. Iori thanked the green-haired leader and looked expectantly at Yuki san.

Yuki caught onto the stare of the younger boy and nodded. "About what we found...well when we were looking by the dorms we found something very interesting... we ended up finding an outside."

Everyone stared at him in disbelief, then all hell broke out, all of them wondering why they didn't get this information first... Yuki simply waited till they all finish quarreling amongst themselves and then nodded. "Not in the way all of you are thinking. This outside was synthetic, everything from the light to the grass. "

"I do not know what you wish to do with this information but I hope it is sufficient for now, as we did not get to fully explore to know every single thing. "

"It is thank you Yuki san. "

After this was said Iori realized it was time for their group to share.

Iori could feel Gaku shift his gaze to him, a look of questioning on his face. It was likely that he was asking if he could go ahead. At Iori's nod of confirmation, Gaku began speaking, everyone's attention already on him.

"Our group did find something," the silver-haired male started, thinking back again on what they had found. "It was a massive doorway, but it was locked; Ryuu couldn't even open it and he's one of the strongest people here." Gaku then huffed, crossing his arms. "The damned rabbit had to come to us and explain what it was. It said it was a trial room."

Yuki spoke up. "A trial room?" He echoed, curious gaze fixed on Gaku.

Gaku nodded. "I'm hoping we'll never need to use it since we only have to use it when a murder occurs."

After a bit of silence, Sogo opened his mouth. "What would we need it for?" He questioned, fiddling with the end of his sleeves. His gaze shifted to the floor, uncertainty flooding his eyes. "I have a theory, but I'm hoping that I'm wrong..."

Remembering what Kinako had said about the room, Gaku frowned. "Based on what I remember from the explanation if a murder happens, we all have to work together in that room to figure out who the culprit was." His frown deepened. "Fail to vote for the right person, and everyone but the culprit gets punished. Pick the correct person, and only the blackened gets executed."

Iori added on to Gaku's statement. "Based on the list of motives the rabbit had given us, it seems that for this time around, the culprit can pick one person to bring with them if they win their trial." A frustrated sigh left Iori's lips after his words. "There's no benefit to killing as someone ends up dead in the end, whether it be the rest of the group or the blackened."

Across the room standing with the rest of ZOOL, Minami nodded. "The most ideal situation would be if no one would kill, but it is still best to stay cautious."

With all of that sorted out, all of them dispersed to go do their own thing. Iori went to go drop Riku off in his room but was stopped by one Kujou Tenn. The white-haired young adult had a complicated look on his face and went to take Riku out of Iori's arms and put him on his own back. Then he began to walk leaving Iori bewildered. After a bit, Tenn looked back, "Are you coming Izumi Iori?"

Iori nodded and started walking in pace with the twins in silence. Eventually, Tenn broke the silence. "You know, I really have to thank you. All my life Riku has been someone precious to me. I wanted to never let anything happen to him. He always had a weak constitution and spent so much time weak and in pain. Yet he always smiled whenever I sang and danced. For someone who had suffered as much as he did, I was still able to make him smile. That's the whole reason I became an idol. I wanted to make many people smile even in their darkest times. Not only that, but I also wanted to protect him, my first fan." He took a deep breath, his eyes shining a little and his head downcase "That might have been not for the best. He's happy now though right?"

Iori silently nodded which resulted in a relieved sigh from Kujou san. "Then I am glad. Even if he dies from this I'm sure he was happy in all his life even amidst all the suffering" Tears trekked down his face and he didn't look completely sure.

"Nanase san won't die no matter what Kujou san." Iori blurted out "You are right that Nanase san has suffered, but he has fought as well. He went into the idol industry and went through great pains to get where he is now. He is strong and I have high expectations for him. My dream is to see him shine on the stage he was meant to be on. No matter how much time it takes he will get there. He won't let this take him and all of us won't allow that to happen either."

Iori saw Tenn back straighten out and his face clear up again. A small whisper of gratitude could be heard as they finally got to the red-haired idols room. 

There Iori took out Nanase san's microphone of his pocket and used it to open his door. Once open Kujou san placed Nanase san gently on the bed and took out a chair to sit next to the bed. A gentle and warm look on his face as he stared lovingly at his brother, and for once Iori could see what Nanase san was always talking about. About the gentle "Tenn nii" who was good at everything and kind, and would always comfort him. He saw the warmth and love under that cold and harsh exterior that he kept up around them nowadays. It was different from his stage persona, of an angel. It was more fond and gentle, more human. Iori's resolve solidified and he excused himself out of the room and went to head to his own room, grabbing a few things before coming back and knocking on the door, he received some weird stares from Momo san and Yuki san but he ignored them and moved forward. Once there he knocked on the door and got a strange look from Tenn once he saw what he was carrying.

"Why did you bring a mattress here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mirai: PFFFT YES  
> So so sorry but iotenn is canon, we're making it happen, gOODNIGHt
> 
> Ain: sorry we do not make the rules here uwu :v:


	4. Ticking Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ain: r e m e m b e r t h e t a g s k i d d o s  
> Mirai: This is where it gets worse :D

"So that we can just stay here overnight to keep an eye on Nanase san," Iori responded, before dragging himself and his things into the room. "Although, I only have one mattress. Unless you want to go get your own, Kujou san."

Kujou san shook his head. "No need, the mattress is big enough for the two of us, it seems," he responded, crossing his arms. "Just make sure to keep ample distance from me and all will be fine."

Iori squinted at Kujou san from across the room. "... If you want the both of us to fit we'd have to almost be touching–"

"Keyword: almost."

A loud huff left Iori's mouth. "If you insist, but if Nanase san questions us, you are the one answering." The black-haired male placed his mattress beside Riku's bed, throwing some pillows on it when he was done adjusting everything.

Kujou san immediately plopped down onto the mattress, a small smirk on his lips. "Fine by me. If you don't like the explanation I give him, you brought this upon yourself." The pale-haired male smiled maybe a bit too sweetly, his eyes filled with mischievous intent.

Iori couldn't help but think that whoever said Kujou san was an angel was a liar.

"... And now I'm worried about what you'll tell him," Iori sighed, exasperated.

Kujou san only chuckled in response, before tilting his head in confusion. "What else did you end up bringing?"

Besides the necessities and Nanase san's medical support, Iori had brought one thing. 

He had brought one of his Usamimi and friends plushie he had been given to by the members of IDOLiSH7 on his birthday. He had vehemently denied liking it, saying "cute things like this doesn't suit me at all! They would go much better with nii san". 

Despite saying that his actions had said otherwise. He kept the plushie with him all the time, feeling the warmth and love that came with it from his fellow idols in IDOLiSH7, his family.

Although... he would die before admitting this to Kujou san.

Therefore, he had quickly hid the plushie behind his back and looked toward a very interesting spot on the wall. "Nothing of much importance. Just the necessities, like toiletries, blankets, and the sort." 

"Is that why you are so obviously hiding that plushie behind your back?" 

Iori spluttered a little at that and moved quickly to deny that but was stopped by the pale twin. "I won't judge. You can like what you want Izumi Iori, you aren't that important to me that I can have a say in your life" 

Iori gave a smile at that. The center of TRIGGER may not have much sensitivity, but that didn't mean he didn't know what he was saying when words came out of his mouth. They may sound cold and dismissive for many but they also weren't wrong. He realized then, that maybe he did not have to be so conscious of others judging him for his own weaknesses and faults.

Finally, they had finished setting up the bed and went to their own rooms to get ready for bed. Once they were clean and dressed for bed they got comfortable in the bed setting up pillows for a divide between the two.

Quickly, they had found out, there was not enough room for the two of them and their pillow wall. Thus they had to take down their pillow wall and sleep side by side, perhaps a tad bit too aware of the body heat radiating from the other.

**~Next Morning~**

Riku had woke up feeling his body aching everywhere and light-headed, his hands trembling slightly at his body's inability to control anything properly...probably the after-effects of another attack. He sighed tired, despite just having woken up, a pang of guilt ringing through him at having the rest of the group worry about him when they should be focusing on everything else, like rescuing the hostages and escaping safely.

Having been occupied with these negative thoughts, Riku had not even realized that he was not alone. It was quite so he did not even realize till he saw a large blob on the floor. It looked pretty wide and big for it to be a person, and too lumpy to be anything but a human being.

Carefully, he tiptoed over to the blob which he could obviously see it on a mattress on the floor. Feeling it was 99.99% human he yanked the blanket off the bed with little fear.

That was when he saw a sight he never thought he would see in his life. Tenn nii and Iori canoodling on the bed next to him. Tenn nii was laying on his side, an arm draped over Iori, while Iori clutched his usamimi and friends plushie. Riku's jaw dropped seeing this truly unexpected turn of events and he stood there in shock with no ideas on how to address it.

"Why are both of you here"

At the sound of Nanase san's voice, both Iori and Kujou san shot out of their sleep, sleepily blinking. It took a moment for the both of them to realize the position they had been in, but when it crossed their minds, Iori's cheeks flushed furiously.

"Nanase san! It's not what you think!" Iori responded, immediately assuming the worst.

The black-haired male watched as Nanase san's already puzzled face plagued itself with even more confusion, the older male tilting his head. "Then what were you doing?"

Kujou san rubbed his eyes, before smiling sweetly at Nanase san. "We simply slept together, that's all~" he responded, flitting his gaze over to Iori before glancing back at Nanase san.

If it were possible, Iori's cheeks would have reddened even more, and he buried his face in his hands. So that was what Kujou san meant by his previous warning...

Nanase san only smiled with his usual energy. "Oh! Okay!" He said, nodding in understanding. "It reminds me of how we used to sleep together all the time, Tenn-nii!" He then turned to Iori, a slight twinkle in his eye. "Tenn-nii's warm, right Iori?"

Iori blinked in surprise, before sighing in both relief and exasperation. He thanked whatever gods were out there that Nanase san had such an innocent mentality, before turning to the redhead. The black-haired male brushed off the other's question, not willing to become that much more flustered than he was already. "Do you feel any better, Nanase san?"

"Mmmm Hmmm~ I feel a lot better now! Thank you Tenn nii, Iori." Nanase san, despite having a bounding smile, had a strained look on his face but despite the pain, the gratitude was conveyed nevertheless.

"You're welcome Nanase san. You don't need to worry about anything, just make sure you keep your health in check."

A pout started to form at those words on the redheads face and he piped up in indignation "I'm not completely useless Iori, please don't say things that I do not need to worry, if I can help out in any way if I need to risk my li-"

"Nanase san please stop right there. My words were not intended that way, I did not say you were useless or that we did not need you" Nanase san looked as if he was about to protest but before he could Iori started to speak again, "How many times must I repeat myself when I say that we need you, that you are an important part of IDOLiSH7 that we cannot do without. I rather you not recklessly risk your health when there is much you can do. I will tell you when I will need you but for now..all I ask is you trust me Nanase san."

The redhead looked relieved at that, smiling and whispering under his breath a small "I trust you"

On the side, Kujou san stayed silent watching from behind with a blank face, but despite that Iori couldn't miss the way his hands clenched and unclenched. Just as Iori was about to comment on Kujou san odd behavior, a knock could be heard at the door. Kujou san moved up to go answer the door and Iori, not quite trusting, cautiously stayed behind Kujou san in the off chance there was someone behind the door with less than kind intents.

Iori was right to be cautious. 

Standing on the other side of the door was Kinako bouncing gleefully up and down, a smug look on its face. A displeased look could be seen on Kujou san face, his arm crossed and if Iori did not know him better, would've thought Kujou san would have killed the rabbit where it stood. For now, he settled on glare that could kill.

"What are you here for Kinako?" 

"Myuu myuuu Is that any way to treat your guest Iori Izumi! Kujou Tenn! Did your parents teach you no manners myuuuu~" 

Iori gave a deadpan stare, 5 seconds away from risking his life to murder the rabbit. "I'm going to ask again Kinako. What are you here for? If it's just for small talk and judging my mannerisms then I have no time for you, apologies."

"puh puh. How boring~ I guess I'll waste no time then. A day has passed now~. You slept all your precious time away and now it's time for punishment myuuuu."

Kujou san and Iori shared a look of disbelief, simultaneously pulling out their Kinako Mics and seeing that indeed 24 hours had passed. It seemed so surreal that they had slept that long. Protests from the two of them were started up but were quickly quieted down and the world went dark and when he could finally see light again, they woke up in the place they started this whole nightmare, two chairs placed in front of them.

Kinako hopped up beside the two chairs, a wicked smile on its face as the two people in the chairs struggled, the rabbit's eyes practically piercing through the sixteen idols. "Myuu myuu~ welcome back folks!" It greeted, it's smile growing impossibly larger. "How about we have some guesses on who these people are, hmmm?"

Silence only followed Kinako's suggestion. If they even attempted guessing, it was almost like outright saying they wanted that person dead. As far as Iori knew, no one here wished for anyone to be dead, even if they had a grudge against them or something akin to that.

And even if they did, who would admit that out loud?

With no responses, Kinako huffed. "Myuuuu, you guys are boring~!" It whined, acting all depressed as it bounced back to the control panel in the broadcasting room. Its smile then came back as Kinako clicked some buttons, almost looking more like a mischievous smirk. "No matter, because it's about to get really entertaining!"

Barely seconds later, the potato sacks fell off of one of the people, and Iori could distantly hear the horrified gasps of the TRIGGER members.

Kaoru Anesagi was the one bound in front of them, matted with blood and a terrified look in her eyes.

Iori could feel Tenn beside him, the pale-haired male's hand gripping tightly onto the other's sleeve. A glance over at him, and Iori could see Tenn's knuckles growing white as his grip slowly grew tighter, his horrified gaze stuck on his manager.

When Anesagi san was dragged off, an ear-piercing scream spilling out of her mouth, Yaotome san's angry yells and curses filled the room, and Iori could see him bolt for the manager out of the corner of his eye.

This time, Tsunashi san made no move to stop him, instead running forward as well.

And just like IDOLiSH7 had been when they tried to save their own manager, Yaotome san and Tsunashi san got shoved back onto the stage, and the giant screen before them lit up.

**"It's punishment time"**

**"Every Girl's Dream"**

It started off nice enough, with the pink-haired woman dancing with a prince at what looked like a large castle, a brightly lit up clock in the distance. But even with how nice it looked, Iori knew not to let his guard down.

This had happened to his own manager after all.

It went like that for a while, a simple slow dance between Anesagi san and the prince before her. If Iori didn't know any better, he would've thought it looked nice, but he could vaguely see the unwilling look in her gaze as she was almost thrown into her movements.

The clock in the distance struck twelve o'clock, the bell beneath it swinging gently as it let out a familiar ding dong.

And that's when everything went straight to hell.

The 'magic' disappeared, almost like a scene from Cinderella, but the difference was that Anesagi san didn't leave in time with the clock. She stood there, her clueless and confused look clearly expressed even on the low-quality screen. A fake crowd appeared, seemingly maddened that the magic had faded away, and started throwing insults at the pink-haired female.

She made no reaction, but then the crowd grew indignant and pulled out several things as some of the mob approached her.

The crowd had managed to cover up what they were doing to her by blocking the sight with their bodies, but the stones that flew and the blood splattering across the screen did nothing to stop the imagination of the idols watching.

At some point, her screams were actually coming through the speakers, and it sent chills down everyone's spines as Anesagi san screamed in pain, pleading for them to stop. This went on for what felt like hours, until, after a disgusting squelch, her screams ceased entirely. The mob backed away, and the idols were petrified with what they saw.  
What used to be Anesagi san's body was splattered all across the floor, and if Iori didn't know any better, he wouldn't have noticed that the bloody clumps on the floor had actually been her.

The crowd was making awful sounds, blood on them but majoritively their hands and faces, and Iori wanted to throw up when he realized what they had done.

They had torn her apart and eaten her.

The screen went black and displayed words yet again.

**"Execution complete"**

A thud resounded through the halls and blood dripped from the walls to the floor. Iori turned to see Yaotome san, his fist against the wall and look of anger, guilt, and sadness visible on his face. The other members of TRIGGER not faring any better. The air was heavy and stuffy. It felt like every breath he took got more and more strained. Like Tsumugi's death, there was nothing the idols could do but wallow in their grief, not even being able to mourn them properly in this wretched situation. Iori saw Kujou san get up and whisper something to Yaotome san and Tsunashi san before they got up and started to move out until they were stopped by Kinako. 

"Myuuu myuu that was quite the rush myuuu quite the fitting end of someone like them. But you all didn't think that was all did you?" That rabbit gave a thin smile "There's still another dearie here who needs punishment and you wouldn't want to prolong the anticipation would you myuu"

Disbelief colored all of their faces at the fact that this nightmare was not yet over. Wasn't just 1 enough?? How much more suffering would they need to face until the people pulling the strings would be satisfied? Would there be no end till they were worn and broken beyond repair? There was nothing they could do but bide their time and wait for the right opportunity but all the while losing those precious to them. 

With that resolve, Iori gave a silent prayer for those lost and the sacrifices that would be made in the future and set his eyes upon what was to come. 

Kinako hopped onto the other person with a bag on his head his struggles ceased to have stopped but stiffened under the weight of the rabbit. Finally, the rabbit took off the bag and revealed the 2nd victim of the day to be Okazaki Rinto, manager of Re:vale. 

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Momo san cover Yuki san eyes in which the silver-haired man began to struggle against his partner's restraint.  
Okazaki san eyes were closed but the second he opened them the floor opened up and the screen showed him tied to a chair and those wretched words played on the screen:

**"It's punishment time"**

**"Anxiety only grows"**

Once the words faded, the screen focused once again back on Okazaki san who was sweating profusely, hands clenching and unclenching a small tremor running through his body. A blindfold covered his eyes and headphones on his ears, a plug on his nose, all this effectively cutting off his senses. His breaths turned from heavy to fast and shallow, irregular, clearly laced with panic. It was then a mini kinako showed up with needles full of a rainbow liquid which it wasted no time in stabbing into the already panicked man. A gasp was heard and then the rabbit pushed down giving the man an injection. 

For a bit, nothing had happened then suddenly Okazaki san started to cry and mutter out 

"N-no please st-stop" 

"Momo, Yuki, please please please" 

Another injection. 

"Don't hurt them, no no no" 

"Stop it stop it stop it stop it" 

Another one.

By now he was fully shaking tears tracking down his face and then he started to vomit till there was nothing to vomit but bile. It was then Kinako pulled out a knife and poised it to his neck and ran it against it, not breaking skin but effective in causing the man to stop his rambling and freeze up. Then Kinako pulled it back and the lights cut out, a thwack resounding in the room. When the lights were back on Okazaki san was slumped over, no longer moving, not even the slightest breath coming from him, the knife lodged in the chair a few inches from him, not touching him in the slightest. Then the screen went black. 

**"Execution complete"**

  
The rabbit hopped on back, a satisfied look on its face. "Well now that that's all over with you are free to go for now myuuuu~ the door is open now so bye bye~~" 

When Kinako left, a sharp slap was heard and he saw Yuki san pushing Momo san away. 

"Why did you do that Momo!" 

"I couldn't let you see that Yuki, no I wouldn't let you see that."

"Why are you the one to decide that for me? I can't just.. avert my eyes"

"..." 

"I need to face this reality Momo, I need to come into terms with this, and looking away won't help, so please don't do that again" 

"It wasn't pleasant Yuki.... you wouldn't have wanted to see him like that." 

"Regardless, he's Okarin, he did so much for us. We can't just ignore him like that, he deserves that much respect that we at least face him" 

At that Momo san started to cry a little then tried to discreetly wipe away the tears before looking up with a tired smile and turning to all the group. "I'm going to head to my room" 

Then he ran out of the room and then after a bit Yuki followed chasing him down. 

Now all that was left was the rest of the idols and heavy silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ain: Anesagi execution based off of her type being "princes" like Nagi or smth while Okarin one was based off the fact that Re:vale is #problematic and they cause lotsa worries so as was said in Friends Day Okarin takes stomach medicine cause they make him so anxious so like just heighten anxiety by like 2000%-
> 
> Mirai: It was a real pain to write
> 
> Ain: It was *shivers*


	5. Driving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IOTENN AGENDA UWU  
> oh yeah and mourning and something bad bad happens   
> have fun :D

By the time the horrid reality set in for Iori, TRIGGER had already left, there was a distant arguing between Yuki san and Momo san that could vaguely be heard from the rest of the idols on stage, and Nii san was beside him rubbing him on the back.

The orange-haired male shifted his worried gaze to the younger brother. "You okay?" 

Iori gave a weak nod, still feeling horribly sick from what he had just witnessed. He couldn't even form a proper response, only staring at his brother with a blank look. 

A look of pity crossed Nii san's face, and he stood up. The realization that Iori had fallen to the floor didn't cross his mind until Nii san was already pulling him up off the ground. "Come on, you like you need a break."

"Actually, I think we all should take the rest of the day off for now." A bit away, Nikaidou san spoke up. "I think we need it." 

Fellow group leader Inumaru san nodded, agreeing with Nikaidou san before he started speaking as well. "Make sure to stay with others though, so that... you know..." It seemed that Inumaru san struggled to say the last few words, unwilling to even mention the prospect of death when it had just happened right in front of them. He shook his head. "Aside from that, someone needs to relay that to TRIGGER and Re:vale."

Nikaidou san nodded, before shifting his gaze to his own group. "Sou, do you mind telling this to Re:vale? And Ichi to TRIGGER." 

At the sound of Nikaidou san's nickname for him, Iori glanced up. He wordlessly nodded in response, before his gaze drifted back to the floor and he stared into empty space. Iori could barely hear the leaders dismiss everyone before his brother was tugging him along, guiding him off the stage. 

Iori could barely feel his older brother gently pat him on the head as his mind whizzed with several thoughts. "I'll go with you to tell TRIGGER, okay?" Nii san stated, and Iori glanced up to see him smiling gently. "The thing is, we have to find them first..."

Iori nodded at Nii san's words. He paced around thoughtfully, brainstorming possible places they could be within this place filled with all of their hopes and dreams now turned a dreaded nightmare, where there was no waking up from. At first, he had no clue where they could be other than one of their rooms. Yet, something inside of Iori whispered that they were not there. Normally, he was not one to follow his instincts with no logic backing it up, yet, right now in an almost trancelike state, his feet took him outside.

Distantly, he had heard Nii chan voice calling out muffled. “Iori!! Where are you going?!” 

Iori gave no answer but continued to walk till eventually, the grass turned to black pavement neat lines painted on the ground. Soon he realized that this was a parking lot, although there was no entrance or exit, just endless expanse.

Perplexed about why he had felt the need to come here, he finally looked up and saw TRIGGER standing a few feet away staring at him with eyes of mourning. Iori moved to bow. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s alright Izumi otouto, no need to lower your head to us.” The silver-haired leader had his eyes downcast and his fire, nearly put out. “You too lost someone important to you.” 

Iori nodded, suddenly, vividly reminded of their own manager's gruesome end. “St-” 

“You know she used to drive us everywhere.” Tenn cut him off. “She made sure we got from point A to point B on time and safe every single time. She protected us when we needed it and supported us from the beginning. Driving us from the bottom to the top, then staying with us when we fell to the bottom again.”

The center affixed his eyes on Iori’s own grey ones “Izumi Iori, I’m not saying this to have you pity us, or give you mourning over your own loss in your manager, who played a similar role. I am saying this to tell you, we aren’t going to stop. She brought us where we are, it would be disrespectful to her to pull our brakes to mourn her.”

Iori paused seeing the determination in all members of TRIGGER’s eyes. He was reminded of what made them one of the top idols. The resilience and strength needed to weather the storm of the harsh entertainment industry. Together they could struggle from the depths of hell back. That’s what those eyes told him. 

It was then that Nii san had finally caught up to him, out of breath. “Ioriiii!! Don’t run off like tha-” Nii san lifted his eyes and then saw that it was the 3 members of TRIGGER that Iori was talking to. “Oh, you found them.” 

All of them waited for him to catch his breath before he stood up straight. “Well I’m sorry to break this up, but all of you really need a rest, it’s been a long day, and… well… we need to do something before too much time passes.” 

The unsaid words of “before more people die” and “before RIku’s condition worsens” resounded heavily.

“Yeah let’s go rest Gaku, Tenn,” Ryuu spoke up pushing the other two from behind. “We shouldn’t stay here and mourn too long or Anesagi san might get mad.” He then turned toward the two Izumi brothers and bowed slightly. “

"Thank you for coming to check on us, we appreciate it.” Just like that the members of TRIGGER were gone and only Iori and Mitsuki were left alone.

Turning to Nii san, Iori shifted back to his doting brother persona, sighing softly as he cast a look of concern towards the older brother. "You should go rest as well, Nii san. As you said, it's been quite the day." 

Nii san sent an equally concerned look toward Iori. "Iori, you of all people look like you need a break." He reached up, patting the younger brother on the head as he beamed. "You've been working hard since we got here, let Nii san take care of you now!"

Iori's instinct was to protest, the argument of "I can take care of myself just fine, I don't need the rest" right on the tip of his tongue, but truthfully Iori knew he was at his limit. He had been endlessly analyzing everything that was happening, and the deaths were a heavy toll on that thought process. The only real break he had gotten was last night's sleep in Nanase san's room, and even then, the calming moment was rudely interrupted by that annoying rabbit.

With that in mind, Iori wordlessly nodded, a sign of agreement with his brother's words. Nii san's grin grew impossibly wider, and Iori couldn't help but smile as well. His brother's energy was contagious. "Great! You really need it after the past couple of days," Nii san said, gently grabbing onto Iori's hand and leading him back inside. Still smiling, Iori followed along behind his brother. 

A few minutes of walking later, Nii san managed to find Iori's room with a bit of guidance from the younger male. He turned back to Iori. "Alright, go inside and take some rest!"

"Will you be okay on your own, Nii san?" Iori questioned, worry for his brother flooding his face. 

Nii san nodded vigorously. "I'll be just fine! Nagi still manages to find the time for Kokona marathons somehow, so Yamato and I are being dragged into it a bit later today." After huffing what Iori heard as a "that old man better not fall asleep again," Nii san turned away, waving. "I'll see you later!"

Iori waved at his brother as he disappeared down the hall, chuckling lightly. He then opened his room door, only to be greeted with a sudden realization as he stared at his empty bedframe.

He had left his mattress in Nanase san's room. 

Sighing in exasperation, Iori shut his door, before making his way over to Nanase san's room yet again.

As Iori headed over to Nanase san’s room he felt all the stress begin to pile up from the past couple of days...God, it had only been a few days and so much had happened. Flashes of blonde hair, pink eyes, and a steady supporting smile spun through his head. Briefly, he had felt a bout of lightheadedness, his whole world spinning for a bit. He leaned on a wall and took a moment to try and get air to his brain and calm himself down. In... out...In...out.

It took too much time to calm down. 

It took twice as much effort to get half as much oxygen as he normally would get from a single breath. Once he finally calmed down he started to make his way to Nanase san’s room, deciding now more so than ever he needed rest. Once he got to the familiar door, glowing with the symbol of double sharp, he sighed tiredly in relief, noting that he was in the dorm. He put his ear on the door and was greeted with silence. Figuring the center was fast asleep he felt a little guilty having to wake him up when he dearly needed rest. However, Iori needed rest as well.

He gently knocked on the door and called out, “Nanase san, can you open the door? It’s Iori. I need my mattress back please.” 

No answer came. This was a bit worrying, normally the redhead would wake up right away, answering the door with a cheerful smile. 

A little louder this time; “Nanase san, are you okay in there?” 

“Nanase san??” 

By now Iori was definitely worried. He was yelling loud enough that it started to attract the attention of the others, coming out of their rooms to see what the commotion was. Iori paced around nervously a bit, debating on what to do. He tried to knock one last time before throwing caution to the wind.

“Nanase san, I’m going to break the door,” Iori said before running backward and then ramming his body into the door. Faintly he heard a high pitched beeping and a vibration against his leg. 

Regardless, he kept on slamming his body against the door, hearing the creaking of the hinges as it was put under the consistent pressure and impact of Iori’s body hitting it.

By now everyone was watching, not wanting to come close, but watching worriedly as Iori finally broke the door. Now with the door wide open, a horrible sight awaited them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mirai: cliffhanger inbound  
> Ain: Try guess what happens next ;3


	6. He Who Pulled The TRIGGER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mirai:  
> Uhhhh  
> Several ppl almost die  
> Cool stuff and chaos stuff  
> (not me making summaries like its chatfic)
> 
> Ain:  
> srry bout what happened last chapter heres a cookie and tissues
> 
> Mirai:  
> Bc u rlly need them for this chapter

Nanase san's still body laid on the floor, his red locks dyed by an even deeper red as blood pooled beneath him. 

There was a moment of silence that felt like it lasted for an eternity. Everyone stared at the unmoving body of the redhead with wide eyes, the blood draining from their faces. 

Kujou san shoving himself past Iori was what broke the black-haired male from his shock, and Iori moved forward as well. The two of them hurried to Nanase san's body, immediately crouching beside it. Out of the corner of his eye, Iori could see Kujou san reach out towards his twin brother, before Iori grabbed his wrist. 

The pale-haired male glanced at him, and almost went to protest before Iori cut him off. "If we move him right now, we may only worsen his condition," he advised, gently moving Kujou san's hand away from Nanase san. His eyes drifted back down to the redhead, and his other hand reached forward to press against Nanase san's neck. The black-haired male could barely feel his center's pulse, but it was there. 

Iori stood up, sighing as he tried to think of their next move. "He's still alive, but we'll have to find a way to bring him somewhere we can treat him..." 

Momo san stepped forward. "There's an infirmary not too far from here!" 

At the realization, Tenn nodded in agreement. "We found it while we were exploring." His pale eyes then shifted down to the floor. "I apologize, I failed to mention it during the last meeting..." 

Iori shook his head. "That was a high-stress situation, it was expected." He then moved his gaze to the rest of the idols who all were standing near the doorway, unwilling to step any closer to the still body on the floor. "Momo san, Inumaru san, since the two of you know the way there, do you mind going to the infirmary to grab anything that could be used to transport Nanase san safely?"

The two named individuals glanced at each other, before nodding. "Leave it to us," Momo san responded, before leaving the room with Inumaru san in tow.

With the assurance that they were not too late and that there was more that could be done, Iori leaped into action. There were a couple of things that needed to be done. First the source of bleeding. It had appeared to have come from his head and there was a dent on one of the posts of the bed frame as well as a small smudge of blood, that was presumably where he was hit. That was worrying because that would almost surely cause a concussion. In fact, it was a miracle he was still breathing with the amount of stress and blunt force trauma the redhead went through.

Besides the obvious damage to his head, Nanase san appeared to be unharmed. There was one thing, however, Iori needed to check. As carefully as he could he turned the redhead over to his side and placed his ear on his back, listening intently on his breathing.

Iori’s hunch appeared to be correct, loathe as he was to admit it. 

He turned hurriedly to the only other one in the room at the moment, Kujou san, everyone else leaving the room to try to make things more efficient. “Nanase san’s condition. Kujou san, can you hand me his inhaler and ventilator. We need to make sure his condition is at least stable before we move him to the infirmary.” 

Despite the desperate attempt for them to stabilize him, it appeared to not be working. Slowly, Iori felt as if Nanase san was slipping from his fingers. The shining hope they held fading as the heartbeats got fainter and the breaths got shallower. Eventually, the mask on the ventilator was no longer fogging up with the telltale sign of breathing, and as Iori placed a shaking finger on his neck to check for a pulse and felt nothing. Desperately, he checked in any way he could for a sign of life but felt nothing.

Iori let his arms dangle at his side as streaks of tears fell down his cheeks and his knees hit the ground.

He failed. 

Nanase san was dead. Nanase san was dead, Nanase san was dead, Nanase san was dead, he was dead, he was dead, he was de-

Suddenly, he felt a sharp impact on his cheek and through blurry vision, Iori saw a pale pink and processed that the impact was from Kujou san slapping him.

“What are you doing Izumi Iori! Don’t give up yet, there’s still hope left. If you can still do something, do it.” 

Iori blinked and nodded, moving toward the redhead and put his hands on his sternum and pushed down to try and beat his heart for him, then moved their heads together to breathe for him. Anything to attempt to preserve the life that he vowed himself to.

Somewhere during all this Nii san had brought in an AED and exchanged his hands for the machine and his mouth for a mask.

Iori sent a little prayer to anything and everything for Nanase san to be alright and checked his pulse one more time.

Ba dum Ba dum. 

Iori sighed a little in relief and he let the tears flow freely.

It was then that Kinako decided to come bursting in. “What is all of this commotion myuuu.” A stormy expression was placed on the rabbit's face. “Here I was taking a nice nap, now you go and destroy all my hard work and ruin my plans myuuu myuu.”

Iori shot a glare to Kinako before his expression grew weary and desperate and he did something he thought he would never do. “Kinako...please save Nanase san.” 

A gleeful expression shone on Kinako's face with an underlying tone of sadism. “Now, why would I do that? Hmmm, Izumi Iori. In the first place, how would I do that.” 

“Don’t try to fool me. This isn’t what you want either. Judging from this scene it was not a murder but a result of your motive and an accident. Knowing you, you wouldn’t be entertained by having us fall in this way. I know how much you are capable of, a little something like this shouldn’t be much of a problem for you, correct. ” 

“Myuuu~ you sure are a flatterer aren’t you~” Kinako looked overjoyed “I’m blushing~ Very well since you asked so nicely~” 

With that, an army of mini Kinako’s came through with a stretcher and lugged Nanase san body on it and scurried away. With an aching heart, Iori watched in pain as they faded out of sight, not liking the vulnerable Nanase san be left alone with the cruel Kinako, but he knew this was their best shot at life for Nanase san. Once there was nothing to be done, Iori sagged on the ground, passing out soundly.

Some time later, Iori slowly began coming to, his eyes fluttering open to the ceiling of the room. He sat up, ignoring the pounding ache in his head as he looked around. It took Iori a second to register that this was, in fact, his own room, his mattress added back in so he could lay down in his own bed. Currently, Iori was alone, thankfully; nobody was visiting him right now. It gave him time to think about their next move. 

Although, that thought was briefly interrupted by his Kinako mic that was simply laying on his bedside table. He heard it angrily beep and buzz, and upon turning it on, noticed a message on the screen. 

_Izumi Iori, you have broken Rule #12!  _

↯ 

**_ Rule #12:  _ ** _Attempting to break into locked rooms is strictly prohibited._

_Punishment must be enacted._

_Come to the stage! There is a surprise waiting for you~ myuu myuu!_

Iori shuddered. It felt like Kinako was directly talking, even though the rabbit was nowhere to be seen. 

"Myuu myuu! Hurry up, Izumi Iori!!!" 

Okay, scratch that. The damned rabbit was right outside his door.

Sighing in annoyance, Iori pushed himself out of bed, headed to the door, and swung it open as fast and as hard as he could. Iori would be lying if he said he wasn't hoping to whack that demonic bunny right in the face. Sadly, that wasn't what happened; Kinako merely dodged the door with a panicked look on its face. "What do you want?" Iori questioned, clearly irritated but trying not to show it. 

At his feet, Kinako huffed. "Don't swing the door open so hard! What would've happened if it were one of your fellow idols, myuuuuu~?" When the rabbit only got a pointed glare in response, it huffed again. "Myuu, you're no fun! Not that it currently matters though..." The rabbit chuckled. "Hurry up, everyone is already on stage waiting!" 

Before Iori could make yet another complaint to Kinako, the rabbit had already disappeared, presumably to the stage everybody was waiting on. Sighing in exasperation, Iori headed to the stage, an uneasy feeling forming in the pit of his stomach with every step.

Theatrics were evidently greatly loved by the rabbit. All the room dark beside the spotlight illuminating the idols on center stage and once the click of the door sounded behind him some dramatic music started up and laser lights shone, while smoke danced on the floor. “Welcome lovely idols to the stage, where this time you shall take an active role in~” A sinister grin appeared on Kinako face as their ears perked up in joy “No more playing extra #1 and #16 you lazy brats, this time you have to get a little bit dirty kukukuku.” 

It was then that a bright flash flooded their visions and 3 chairs were illuminated and a table with 2 boxes with holes big enough to stick any hand through. “Curious, well let’s say that since a certain ‘someone’”, a bright spotlight shone on Iori which he crossed his arms to and shot an unimpressed look toward Kinako, “broke a rule.” 

“I would do it over a million times if need be. I was not going to let Nanase san die on my watch” Iori spoke up, complete confidence and acceptance at whatever was going to happen, “If you are going to punish me though, I see no reason as to why you are dragging others into my own, ah ‘rule-breaking’” 

“Myuuu myuuu, I was getting to that before you oh so rudely interrupted me. Ahem.. so poor ol’ me was distressed after seeing all the destruction of my precious playground and my hard work so callously destroyed. Oh my, I was ‘this close’ to smiting you on the spot, Izumi Iori, but then I thought about it. None of the rest of you even tried to stop him! That was when I realized that it was not 1 apple that was rotten, but the whole basket. Thus, instead of ridding the apple to the side, I figured out a way to save the rotted apples. The conclusion I came to is simple, dye the browned apples in blood red.”

With a flourish Kinako hopped down from the table it was perched on and ushered the blinking and confused idols forward. As soon as all the idols reached the front of the stage the potato sacks on the three people fell off and revealed Takanashi Otoharu, Yaotome Sousuke, and Tsukumo Ryou, all beaten and bloodied. “As you can see, we have the presidents of 3 of your groups, unfortunately, we could not find Re:vale’s president san anywhere tsk but no matter, for now, we need him not. I ask for 3 brave willing participants to step forward myuuuu” 

Not a single person moved.

“Myuuuu boring~ but expected I suppose -3-. Well now, these little boxes will come in handy myuuu myuu.” Kinako said “I ask for members of TRIGGER and ZOOL to come forward. Izumi Iori will represent IDOLiSH7, due to his rule-breaking. Re:vale will have an exception for now. Therefore, ZOOL and TRIGGER I ask you to pull slips of paper from this box and if you pull a slip with my lovely face on it then you will be the representative myuuuu” 

Hesitantly the members of respective TRIGGER and ZOOL walked forward and as both Ryuu and Minami was about to put their hands in their respective boxes, Kujou san spoke out. 

“I’m curious why you believe we would willingly do this?” Kujou san had a hand under his chin, his posture relaxed. It was impressive how well he could keep his composure under such situations. “In fact, I have been wondering this ever since Izumi Iori managed to convince you to save Riku.”

“Myuuu” Kinako seemed confused then chuckled “Are you actually planning on going against me Kujou Tenn~ If so, by all means, please do~ It will certainly be entertaining to see you uselessly attempt to struggle against me myuu myuu.” 

“Now I didn’t say anything about going against you. I was simply, let’s say, questioning how you plan to force us to do anything when as proven by you saving Riku, it would be boring and go against your plans for you to actually kill us.” 

“Fufufu let’s say then, you do against me, I can become much much more sinister. I’ve been going easy on all of you thus far~ However, if you were to resist, there are things far worse than death, that is just as entertaining.”

The air-dropped around them and a chill ran up Iori’s spine as Kinako’s eyes glowed a harsh red.

“Now if that’s all for questions~ please do choose who will represent the two groups myuuuu~”

There was a moment of hesitation, which was fully expected. Despite not knowing what the punishment was, everyone was aware enough to dread what was coming. Both the TRIGGER and ZOOL members slowly headed forward again, reaching into the box one by one and pulling out a slip of paper. 

The groups looked at each other, nodding, before opening the slips at the same time. There were several sighs of relief from people Iori would assume didn't pull the Kinako slip, but he noticed the horrified look on Isumi san's face, as well as the, muttered cursing of Yaotome san. 

They had pulled the Kinako slip. 

Inumaru san glanced over at Haruka's slip, shock overtaking his face. "Wait– Haru is the last person I want this happening too!" He turned to Kinako, a frantic look on his face, opening his mouth to speak. 

Kinako huffed, cutting off the ZOOL leader. "I know you're gonna say you want to switch with him, and the answer is no!" Inumaru san visibly frowned, but the rabbit smirked wickedly. "Now, Izumi Iori, Yaotome Gaku, and Isumi Haruka, please step forward." 

The three glanced at each other before all of them moved towards Kinako, uncertainty flooding their gazes. The bunny hops away, back towards the panel of buttons. After several clicks and beeps, a platform rises onto the stage, and Iori almost stepped back in shock if not for the fact that he was frozen in fear instead.

Three similar-looking guns sat on the risen platform, almost glistening against the bright lights of the stage. 

Kinako chuckled. "I can just see your curiosity, myuu myuu," it joked, and Iori almost growled over the fact that that demonic thing could joke at a time like this. "Well then, I'll explain just what's gonna happen! This is a more... myuuuu what's the word... ah, fun version of Russian Roulette." The rabbit's eyes glittered a dangerous red before continuing to speak. "All of you are to pick a single gun. Only 2 of them actually have bullets, so you're all going to have to choose carefully~ With that gun, you are to aim at your respective president, and shoot. Then–" 

Yelling from Yaotome san is what effectively cut off Kinako's explanation. "Hold on, there's no way we're going to shoot them!" He protested, stepping forward. "You really think I'm going to willingly–" 

"Gaku."

The silver-haired idol paused, turning to his father. A desperate look was on his face, yet he still managed to find it in him to answer. "What is it, old man?" 

"That nickname even now, huh?" Sousuke grumbled, before sighing. "I shouldn't be surprised though. Just listen up, you brat." 

Yaotome san looked like he was about to protest before Sousuke began speaking again. "Gaku, I understand if you don't take what I'm about to say seriously. I've been nothing but cruel to you since the start, dumping all of my rages onto you. I gave you every reason to hate me, and I know I wasn't the best dad to you. But you don't deserve to go down the road of suffering that I went down. You deserve so much more, for putting up with such a shit dad like me." The president's hardened gaze focused on Yaotome san. "Kill me, and survive. It's the least you deserve."

"But you don't deserve this either!" Yaotome san argued, the despair on his face becoming more and more evident. "No matter how crappy you were, I–" he paused, his words almost breaking. The volume of his voice quieted down, and Iori could hear the pure emotion Yaotome san was expressing. He sounded... heartbroken. "I still loved you." 

Sousuke let himself give an uncharacteristic smile. It was small and barely noticeable, but it was still a smile nonetheless. "Despite my actions, I loved you too. And I always will, even if you're the one to kill me."

Yaotome san looked conflicted before turning to Kinako. “Rabbit. You said that there was 1 gum with no bullets correct.” 

“Myuuu myuu~ you really ought to get your memory checked if that had slipped your head already. But to answer your question, yes that is correct.” 

Yaotome san nodded and then turned his determined gaze on Sousuke “Listen up old man, I- I don’t want you to die. If you are really sorry, then you have to survive to make it up to me, alright.” Gaku then stomped up to the table to pick a gun off and poised it to his father “If the best chance is to point this gun with the 1 out of 3 chances you won’t die then I will take that chance.”

To Iori's surprise, the white-haired president gave a fond and proud smile. “You’ve grown Gaku. You are no longer a sniveling brat, but a grown man...I’m regretful I’ve been so caught up in myself to notice how much you have grown. Sometimes you remind me of your mother. She was so independent and fiery. When you were little you used to try and help out in the shop with such an intense look of concentration, it made your mother so proud. She used to point at you and say with a smug look on her face ‘Look, that’s my son right there’ and I always used to say ‘Your son? That’s my son right there’” a sad look clouded over his face “But after we split, I didn’t really treat you like that did I. I wish I wasn’t so blinded all this time. However, right now, I am looking at you properly. Now I see what a fine young man you are and I know that even if I die you’ll be fi-”

“Shut it old man! You won’t die so don’t talk as if you will! Just talk to me in that self-assured and cocky tone of yours that always knows you are right! Be an asshole, I don’t care, just don’t give up.” By now there were tears streaking down Yaotome cheeks and he turned away as if he couldn’t face him anymore. “I won’t give up...” 

“Gaku...” silence weighed heavily in the room.

1/3 chances of survival, and if you hoped for 1 to survive that is almost as if hoping the other 2 would die. Yet, no one blamed Gaku for hoping that, Iori certainly did not. 

“President, there’s so much I want to learn from you, so I won’t give up on you either” 

“You lot are good kids” A soft smile full of acceptance spread on his face, his eyes closed, a sight all too familiar to the members of I7. “I know no matter what happens, all of you will go on and survive. Even if I were to disappear from this world and meet my end I would not be sad. Tsumugi had died, believing in all of you till the end. I do not mind meeting my end here to be with her. I would be regretful for leaving all of you behind, but my daughter has raised you well...So please do not wish my survival at the price of Yaotome and Tsukumo’s lives.”

“I-” Iori’s mind raced with memories of when the cheerful man who had persistently followed him from the grocery store to the train and had asked him all sorts of questions. The man who had taken both him and his brother and had given them dreams and a family. The man who had taken them when they were all ripping apart at the seams and tore them apart fully to bring them all together. The man who had always smiled, the one who had acted in such eccentric ways, supporting all artists, getting excited over music, fanboying over Douglass Rootbank, taking them camping, tearing them down, building them up, making them grow...all with his cheerful smile on his face and eyes closed. Now he was staring at Iori with his eyes wide open and his smile off his face. “Even if you say that President…. How can I possi-” 

“Izumi Iori, Izumi Mitsuki, Nikaido Yamato, Rokuya Nagi, Nanase Riku, Ousaka Sougo, and Yotsuba Tamaki. I had seen a light in you. I had seen something inside all of you. That light will continue to burn in the darkest of nights. It won’t be put out by the floods of a storm. The snow will not stifle it. As your president I have faith. As your president, I am telling you to be fine with my death. To move forward and reach the hearts of the world. Create music and shine IDOLiSH7” 

“...okay President.” Iori let a few tears escape his eyes and took a good look at the proud President, his usual smile back, and his eyes once again close.

On the other corner of the room, Haruka was still on the floor shaking, being comforted by Inumaru san. Natsume san and Midou san stood a bit back but looked as if they too wanted to comfort their distressed teammate. Yet, it seemed like under a certain hand on his back and the calming words of Inumaru san, Isumi san was calming down a little. After hearing the heart to hearts from the Presidents of Takanashi productions and Yaotome productions it seemed as if he had enough time to calm down enough to stand up, albeit leaning on Inumaru san a bit. Suddenly an almost arrogant, cocky voice rang out “Don’t all of you have any touching last words to say to me too~” 

“Would you like these to be your last words?” 

“Of course not. I just don’t want to be left out in all of these touching hearts to hearts too.” 

“Quit fooling around it’s your life at stake here!” Haruka spoke up at last, voice wavering and tears threatening to spill once again. “Here I thought we were finally starting to get along somewhat again...” 

Silence led as everyone looked down before Tsukumo san sighed “I suppose I am grateful to you, ZOOL”

“You were the only idols to me. There was the rest of the industry that was nothing but pretty words and fake promises. Among them all, you were the only ones painfully honest. Openly giving your true feeling and willingly shouting it to the world. You never lied and when you said you care for your fans, you truly do. You guys were the only ‘idols’ to have noticed me” He paused as if he was not used to giving such words “If I were to speak without deceit. I am grateful. So yes, I think we were getting along, but we are not friends, nor are we family. I am your President and you are my ZOOL, my idols. I don’t care about the rest here, however, you all have to survive and go to the outside world and sing your songs of revolution, I don’t want to die. I still have lots I want to do but, I guess I can entrust my will to you. I no longer hate the idol world, or I won’t if ZOOL is the idol world.” 

With that Haruka fell to the floor once again “I can’t-” 

“Myuuu myuuu~ too bad, there is no ‘I can’t’~” Kinako hopped up “Now that I let all of you have your touching moments myuu” Kinako sniffled and pretended to wipe away imaginary tears “It is time to being myuuuuuu” 

Dread weighed heavily on all of them, as well as determination. All of them believing and hoping in all their hearts that their important person will survive. 

“Now with this~ please raise your guns, READY, AIM, FIRE” 

With that, the sound of 2 gunshots resounded loudly in the echoing hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ain:  
> hey hey hey  
> srry for the sadness  
> heres ur cookie and tissue again uwu  
> also  
> try guess what happens next ;3  
> comments and kudos appreciated >3< <3
> 
> Mirai:  
> Lmao idk if we deserve them after torturing our bois like this
> 
> Ain:  
> -3- worth a try


	7. First Blood :D

When Iori had fired his gun, he had shut his eyes. He couldn't – no, he wouldn't allow himself to watch as the three of them shot at their presidents. He didn't want to be reminded that, in several ways, he had brought this upon them, that he was the one who was indirectly staining one other idol's – or  _ both _ idol's hands with blood. 

He had said he didn't regret his choice of breaking down the door, and there was truth in those words, yet he still felt guilty for dragging his fellow idols and the presidents into a punishment they didn't deserve.

At Haruka's loud wail, Iori opened his eyes, yet was almost blinded by the bright spotlights. His eyes took a moment to adjust, but when he could finally see, Iori fell silent in shock. 

His president still sat in front of him, clearly alive and shocked, and Iori's heart sank into his stomach. It wasn't that he dreaded that Takanashi san was still alive, but...

Haruka had fallen to the floor, his tears spilling down his cheeks as his gun clattered onto the ground. His face was buried into his hands, choked sobs muffled by his sleeves. Touma had run forward, trying to reassure the younger male despite his own slipping tears. The rest of ZOOL hung back, unable to move both their own bodies, nor their gazes from their president in front of them. 

Beside Iori, Gaku was frozen, his own gun threatening to fall out of his shaking hands. It was obvious that the silver-haired male was trying not to let his tears fall, his gaze averting to the ground as his shoulders shook and his fists clenched. The rest of TRIGGER made their way forward, wordlessly turning Gaku away from his father and pulling him into a group hug. The hug broke his attempted facade, Gaku burying his head into Tenn and Ryuu as he tried to silence his cries as much as he could. 

Kinako chuckled. "Myuu myuu, what a tear-jerking scene! I could almost cry along with you all, boohoo..." 

Iori sent a sharp glare at Kinako, crossing his arms. "For once in your life, could you  _ please _ shut up?" He hissed, his patience wearing out so thin to the point that if the rabbit did one more thing, Iori swore he'd send Kinako to another plane of existence. Far away from him and everyone else.

"Myuu–! How rude, Izumi Iori!" Kinako grumbled. "But oh well, you've already had your punishment~" Hopping off the button panel, Kinako's smile grew even wider. "You're all dismissed from here! Myuu myuu!" The pink fluff then disappeared off a section of the stage, bouncing away into the shadows.

When the damned rabbit left the room, everything fell apart. Even with the deaths of their managers in front of their faces, it had not quite seemed real. All of those deaths were behind a screen, the scenes too extreme to even be real.

Now...the metallic scent of blood permeated through the air heavily and you could touch their bodies all void of life. All of a sudden, for the first time, reality set it in. They were dead and they weren’t coming back. Iori ran toward President and broke down crying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m sorry”

The blonde-haired man still seemed in shock and simply stared down at Iori in silence. Eventually, a warm hand came on his head and he started to try to comfort Iori. Soon the rest of IDOLiSH7 joined in and though they were happy that their president survived, guilt weighed heavily with their relief.

Especially with Iori.

Now that the President was surrounded by the rest of IDOLiSH7 and he got a chance to step back. Now this bloody view belonged to no one but himself. He took a deep breath before quietly leaving the room and headed toward the infirmary to see a certain redhead. 

Iori needed to see with his own eyes what had been his conviction and his will. Iori knocked on the door and heard an affirmative to come in.

What awaited him caused him to almost break down. 

On the bed with tubes and wired protruding all over his body, was one Nanase Riku.

Iori stepped forward, attempting to ignore Kinako in the room as he sat in a seat placed by Riku's bed. His gaze moved up and down as he scanned Riku's condition, his heart almost breaking with every wire and tube he could see extending from his body. 

Kinako hopped onto Riku's bed, it's eyes almost piercing through Iori. "You'd 'do it a million times over', myuu?" The bunny teased, waving its ears around in a mocking motion. 

"Of course I would; that'll never change," Iori responded, not having the energy to fully argue with the rabbit nearby him. Granted, he never really ever had the energy to fight with something so irritating in the first place. 

Bouncing off of Riku's bed, Kinako huffed. "Myuuuu, did the punishment affect you that bad? You're no fun to tease anymore!" 

"And who's fault do you think that is?" Silence. Iori turned towards where Kinako would have been on the floor, but the rabbit seemed to have disappeared. It probably found Iori too boring to mess with at the moment. Sighing in relief at the silence, the black-haired male shifted his gaze back to a pale Riku. 

It hurt to see the redhead, usually bubbly and full of life, laying still on the bed and on the brink of death. It felt like ages ago that Iori had last seen the center carefree, without a worry in the world as he sang and danced for their fans. 

Iori sighed, shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts before leaning forward onto the mattress. He couldn't allow himself to wallow in pity; it was the last thing anyone needed right now. 

...Although, maybe he could allow himself some rest. Iori felt both physically and emotionally drained, and he's not even sure if he'll make it back to his room without passing out on the way. Burying his head into his arms, Iori closed his eyes, immediately falling asleep.

His eyelids felt incredibly heavy, taking a considerable amount of time to even force it open, just to be blinded by white. Once the white spots cleared from his eyes, he looked around and noticed the sharp smell of antiseptic and beeping of the monitor. 

Oh. 

This scene was all too familiar to Riku, spending much of his youth in the same white walls he was quite accustomed to. Trying to recall how he had ended up here, thinking of all the lives, there were none that he recalled that got him to the point where he had fainted. In fact, he had been feeling great lately. For the past couple of lives, he had been feeling in tip-top shape. Going the full time with full composure and only showing his fatigue faintly backstage, outside of prying eyes. 

So, why did he end up in this condition?

Riku was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even realize the heavy weight faintly touching his leg. When he looked down to see what it was, he saw a head of familiar black hair, peacefully asleep. Riku reached down to pet the head of hair that was kept in perfect condition that was laying on his lap. He marveled at how utterly soft and smooth Iori’s hair was, not a single tangle in it. Iori moved his head closer to Riku’s hand as if drawn to the comforting warmth of it. A soft smile adorned Riku’s face at this comforting moment and he began to hum along to the songs that they had sung together, the songs that constantly played happily within his heart. 

Sometime when he was singing along to Kaiketsu Mystery Riku noticed Iori acting strange. Stopping singing a sly smile played on his face as he suddenly switched to singing Diamond Fusion. With that Iori cracked his eyes open and stared at Riku, “How long did you know I wasn’t really asleep Nanase san?”

“Not long~” 

“Well, I am glad you are feeling well enough to sing happily now Nanase san” Iori stood up to stretch, hearing the pops as his body straightened after being sat in that strained position for that long, “That was quite the ordeal you put us through, next time please make sure you tell us if you start to get that bad.”

“I will Iori, don’t worry about it too much.” Judging by the face that Iori had pulled it was definitely a cause for worry. Maybe it was much more serious than Riku had originally imagined. “Ah you might need to jog my memory though, I don’t quite recall how it got this bad” 

Iori stared at him dumbfounded before his expression settled into a hardened look of dread. “Do you not remember anything Nanase san-” 

Confusion was evident on the redhead's expression as he shook his head no. Iori gave a sigh and buried his head in his hands. “Ne, Iori can you tell me what happened.” Riku genuinely wanted to know what had gotten Iori so distressed and him to the point of ending up the way he was. And so Iori did, Iori told Riku the whole long truth.

It didn’t seem like the truth. It seemed like one big elaborate joke, a prank for the sake of rattling him up. Yet it wasn’t, Riku trusted Iori, knowing he isn’t the type to take things like this lightly. Even still there was a part of him deep down that wanted to reject this truth and live in a world of ignorance. 

From all the things he had heard on what had occurred in the past couple of days, a deep fear took over him. Unconsciously, he had begun to shake without his knowledge. His vision darkened and his breathing turned erratic. Suddenly, a grounding warmth wrapped around him and started to comfort him till he returned back to reality. “It’s okay Nanase san, it’s okay” Riku faintly heard before he began to fully break down in tears.

“I’m scared Iori...I don’t want to die” 

Iori’s face turned stony with resolve “Don’t worry, Nanase san, I will for sure make sure that does not happen.” 

Riku nodded, and a knock sounded at the door. Iori gave Riku one last hug before standing up to answer the door. On the other side was Tenn nii, with an apathetic seeming expression. After some conversation with Iori, Tenn nii entered the room and sat on the chair which Iori had previously occupied and Iori walked to the door, “Nanase san, please trust me. I will make sure that this will end.” 

With that Iori was gone and Riku was left with Tenn nii. For the first few seconds, it was an awkward silence and Riku began to doze off until his chest started to tighten once more and it got hard to breathe, even with the help of the machines.

Noticing Riku’s evident pain, Tenn nii got up and pushed Riku up before settling down behind him and laying Riku down on his stomach. Riku blinked in surprise before a smile graced his face and he settled in the comfortable warmth that was oh so familiar but distinctly different at the same time. They were no longer children, but they would always be brothers. “Thank you Tenn nii.” 

“Your welcome Riku, now go sleep.” and Riku did, falling into a fitful slumber.

After some time, Riku blinked himself awake, his eyes adjusting to the (now slightly dimmer) lights of the infirmary. He shifted a bit, before realizing quickly that he wasn't laying on his own pillow; rather, the way he was laying down felt all too familiar. His gaze shifted up, and Riku smiled softly at the face of his brother, peacefully asleep. The older twin's head nodded every so often, his body trying to keep himself upright despite being unconscious. Riku giggled softly at the sight, before clamping a hand over his mouth. Tenn was always a light sleeper, similar to Riku, and even the slightest noise could wake him up. 

It was too late to quiet himself, however, as Tenn's pale eyes slowly opened a moment later. Tenn blinked, seemingly still processing that he was now awake, and Riku blinked back. The two stared at each other, quiet, before giggling together. 

"Morning, Riku," Tenn greeted, running his hands through his brother's hair like he used to do. 

Riku beamed, his smile almost rivaling the sun in many ways. Tenn always made him happy, and despite their separation of several years, Riku's glad they could still have moments like this. "Good morning, Tenn-nii!" He greeted back. 

Tenn smiled fondly before his expression turned slightly serious. "Are you alright?" 

Assuming Tenn was talking about how he had been knocked out that entire time, Riku nodded. "I feel a lot better, Tenn-nii! Don't worry!" The redhead sent a reassuring smile at his brother, and Tenn's expression softened. 

"As long as you feel better at the least." Gently moving Riku off of him, Tenn shuffled himself out of the bed, and Riku immediately missed the warmth of his brother. It always felt so much easier to breathe with the older twin against him, his body heat warming him– 

_ Wait. _ Riku realized something for a moment, his hand moving above his chest.  _ I can breathe easily. _

Something felt really wrong. Riku wasn't entirely sure what, but he was one hundred percent sure that he shouldn't be able to breathe  _ this _ easily. Especially with the motive that thinned out the air every few hours or so. 

Riku knew he wasn't exactly the most aware out of the group of the idols, but he at least liked to think that he wasn't the most naive of the group either. The redhead fell silent, thinking maybe a bit too hard since Tenn glanced at him in worry. 

"Riku?"

Said male didn't answer, only falling deeper into thought as he pieced things together. But his thoughts were immediately interrupted as the room darkened, the lights abruptly shutting off. 

Riku almost jumped – actually, he did jump; he ended up out of his bed and gripping onto his brother's sleeve when the lights cut out. "Tenn-nii–"

The older twin simply looked around, confirming that they couldn't see at all. "Hm, it seems the lights cut out," he commented, shifting so that his hand is holding onto Riku's. "Nikaido Yamato mentioned that he found an electrical panel with his group, right? We should probably head over there and try to turn on the lights for now."

Riku only nodded, before Tenn began leading the way. Granted, neither of them could see, and Riku found himself almost bumping into walls despite following his brother step for step. Tenn, pitying his twin slightly, grabbed his Kinako Mic and turned it on, the screen glowing against the darkness as Tenn flipped through applications. Riku watched from beside him, watching the applications slide across the screen every time Tenn clicked a button. After a few clicks, they came across a flashlight mode. Riku noticed a short pause in Tenn's movements before the flashlight turned on a moment later after his brother had clicked the application. Now, with some sort of light source, the twins continued through the building, Riku now not actually colliding head-first with the walls.

A few minutes later of walking, the two come across a couple of doors leading to what seemed to be separate rooms. One door read ‘Boiler Room’ in big bold letters, and the other read ‘Electrical Room’ in the same simple font.

Shining the flashlight on the signs, Tenn paused. "It seems we're here." 

Riku smiled, his tight grip on Tenn's hand loosening slightly. "Yay! We can finally fix the lights!" He then headed toward the electrical room, gently pulling his brother with him as he mindlessly swung open the door. 

"Wait, Riku! What if–" 

Too late. The door had been opened, and at that moment the lights flickered back on. Riku almost sighed in relief (despite the fact that it was  _ clearly _ weird that the lights just turned on by itself), before his face paled at the sight behind the swinging door. 

"Riku?" Tenn called, glancing at his brother in worry. "Is everything okay–?" His eyes followed Riku's line of sight, and his heart dropped. 

Yaotome Gaku laid on the floor of the electrical room, blood continuously pooling from his unmoving body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mirai: I'm sorry  
> Ain: :>.... expect there to be more sorry in the future uwu
> 
> Also we made a twitter for our shared fics @MirAin_owo hit us up there if u wanna rant. There are gonna be stuff there useful for the cases and possibly artwork too ;3.


	8. Investigation Time pt 1: Boop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigation time but the bois get side tracked pt 1  
> ......Preview.......  
> No one:  
> Iori and Riku: Boop  
> Gaku: Really?!? Right in front of my dead body!?!?

Almost in disbelief, Riku reached out a hand at the unmoving Yaotome san to check just to make sure...if he was really dead then... no Riku refused to believe any of them would kill but the proof was within him, in the fact that once again he could breathe easy.

“Don’t touch him!” 

A voice shouted out behind him as he was pushed back by Tenn nii who ran forward to Yaotome san and had lifted up his body which had in his arms went limp, totally devoid of any light or the passionate fire that had always been present in the confident leader of TRIGGER. 

With no response from Yaotome san, Tenn nii dropped him on the floor gently and whispered something in his ear before standing up. The look in his eyes listless and sad. Without a word to Riku, Tenn nii had left the area. However, just as Tenn nii had left Iori had run into the room, a panicked look on his face and he was soon followed by Mitsuki san. Once Iori laid his eyes on Riku he took a sigh of relief seeing he was alright. That relief was quick to be put out once he noticed the look in Riku likely was showing on his face. Mitsuki san gave a silent sob behind Iori and that was when Iori had looked down and saw Yaotome, lifeless on the ground.

“Ding Dong Dong Ding A body has been discovered myuu!~ Please head to the electrical room. Now then after a certain amount of time has passed a class trial will begin.”

Silence followed after Kinako's voice rang throughout the building. That dreaded announcement ringing clearly with the signs of betrayal. 

Which meant...

Yaotome san was really dead. 

There was no going back anymore. This cruel killing game had started and because of it, someone had killed one of their fellow idols, sacrificing both Yaotome san and likely the rest of the group too.

Yaotome san…

Riku’s heart ached for the remaining members of TRIGGER. TRIGGER was known as a professional group, at first they seemed cold and closed off, yet there was a bond between all of them. Riku knew Yaotome san from the jobs they did together. They were paired together a couple times and from what he knew, he was an honest man. He wore his heart on his sleeve and was righteously just and passionate. He knew what he wanted and he fought for it. Riku respected him.

He did not deserve to die.

Riku took a bitterly fresh breath and cried.

Through his tears, Riku just barely registered Iori walking up to him, only aware of it when the warmth of the other's hand was placed over his own. Iori used his thumb to gently rub Riku's hand, which only triggered more tears from the redhead. Choking back a sob, Riku turned to Iori and buried his head into his shoulder, the center's free hand clutching onto Iori's sweater. Iori embraced him softly but tightly, hushed words of comfort leaving his lips. 

Slowly, everyone else ran into the room, Riku trying desperately to block out the screams and cries that came from the notice of Gaku's body. He didn't want the reminder that this killing game had started, that this was  _ real. _ The redhead attempted to simply focus on Iori's voice, his gentle shushing as the arm around him began rubbing him on the back in comfort. Iori was surprisingly calm given the situation, but he was always like that, so Riku didn't fault it as strange. 

After some time, Kinako entered the room, a sickening smile on its face.

"Myuu myuu! Well, it seems like things are starting to get interesting~" it laughed, and Riku turned around to face the rabbit as it hopped over to sit in front of Gaku's body. Its grin seemed to somehow grow wider as Kinako stared at the group of idols with a glint in its eye. 

"For  _ finally _ getting to the first kill, I thought I'd give you all a little help into how Investigation Time works, myuu myuu!" 

Beside Riku, Iori squinted at the rabbit, who was moving  _ much _ too energetically for this situation. "Investigation Time?" He repeated, curiosity as well as suspicion lacing his words.

“Mouuu~ Are you guys dumb or something myuuu!” Kinako said bouncing up and down, their fur bristling “A body has been found so obviously justice must be served myuu” 

Kinako’s eyes started shine “Ahhhh~ I never thought this day would come myuuu!~ Took you guys long enough, I thought a kill would never come myuu myuu. Now we can finally start the fun stuff myuuuuu”

“Fun stuff?” came a small mutter from Tamaki behind Riku. 

“Yep yep! After some time for investigation a trial will be held for poor old Gaku to see who killed him in cold blood myuuu!~ Now what is investigation time you might ask? Well, do any of you have guesses hmmm” Kinako hopped closer to the group huddled around Yaotome san’s body and all of the group backed away and Tsunashi san who was the last one to enter the room and was oddly silent leaped to Yaotome san’s body and shielded it from Kinako who continued to hop closer as if Kinako was going to ruin all that was left of Yaotome san. “Hmmm, ~ is that a no?”

No one answered for fear of what may happen if they acknowledge it.

“Myuuu myuu~ very well I shall explain it to you then. After a set amount of time a trial will be held amongst you heathens but what’s a trial if you don’t have evidence myuuu. Therefore, you all will be give 24 hours to investigate this crime thoroughly and find the culprit using that evidence myuuu.”

“But Kinako~~ that won’t be enough time to solve this crime using my tiny brain yada yada” Kinako said appearing behind Iori and pretending to speak for him. “Yeah yeah I know~ Which is why I will be offering you a set of clues that will help you greatly to solve this treacherous case.” Kinako paused and a sinister smile appeared on its face “That is if you can find it.” 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just as I said it myuuu~. There will be these adorable cute little mini Kinako’s hidden throughout the venue which if you find will give important clues in addition to your investigation time myuuu!~ Beware though for it will only say it once myuu myuu.”

Iori's eyes widened in disbelief. "Only once? That's absurd, what if the blackened finds it first–" 

"Then you'll have to be quick!" Kinako responded, cutting off the black-haired male. "Those mini Kinakos, as well as the crime scene here and the whole building are fair game, myuu myuu! The blackened could easily mess with things if they wanted to~" 

Sighing, Iori still beside Riku frowned as he crossed his arms. "That would make things harder on those of us that are innocent..." 

Kinako laughed. "That's the point! It's way more interesting that way~ myuu myuu!" Its eyes glinted with mischief, the cackles dying down. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you all to your investigating! Toodles~" 

And with that, Kinako hopped away, disappearing behind the massive crowd of idols surrounding the doorway. 

There was only a long silence after that. It was a lot to take in; the investigation time, the fact that the murderer could so easily mess with the only way to solve this mystery, and most of all, the death of an acquaintance. Honestly, Riku would have called Yaotome san a friend. IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER had become close as time went on in their careers, and it was to a point that some members would even call each other family. 

But now, a part of their family was dead, and one of the members did it. 

Tsunashi san was the first one to break the silence, his body becoming wracked with sobs as he stared down at Yaotome san's body once again. Riku could only imagine what the older male was going through; if Riku had come upon a dead IDOLiSH7 member, he was absolutely sure he'd have a similar reaction, if not worse. 

IDOLiSH7 was like a second family after all. Riku would do almost anything to make sure they didn't get hurt, and he knew the same went for everyone else in IDOLiSH7 as well.

**_ Investigation Time Start _ **

With that, a chime was heard from the overhead speakers that had indicated that investigation time had begun. At first, no one made a single move, likely a mixture of shock as well as hesitant to begin. After all...none of them had any experience with this.

A cough was heard beside Riku and he looked toward his side to see Iori clearing his throat and standing up straight. Everybody turned towards him as he came to his full height and looked commanding and confident. Despite being one of the youngest Iori was always sure about his opinion and had no qualms about expressing it. That disposition had saved Riku numerous times. Even now he was glad Iori was there to guide. 

“We have to move. As much as Yaotome san’s death is..sad. We need to, for this once, put aside our feelings and find who killed him else we will all end up dead.” 

“Ichi is right. We won’t get anything done wallowing and I am sure Yaotome would probably go on this passionate tirade about how we can’t remain stagnant and if we truly want to survive we can’t sit by idly. That passionate idiot would never want such a lame way to end that led to all of us dying.” 

“That’s surprisingly wise words from you ossan, acting like a leader huh?” 

“Oh Yama~to!~ No need to push yourself!” 

“Oi, what is that supposed to mean you two.”

Everyone chuckled from the light playful banter among the three members of Pythagoras Trio and slightly the mood lifted and most of them were able to clear their heads a little bit.

“So… tell me. How can we avenge Gaku?” The quiet voice of Tsunashi san who was kneeling next to the lifeless body of his teammate, his friend. The light mood not breaking his cloudy disposition. “I don’t want anyone else to suffer a fate like Gaku and I don’t know what the class trial will bring but...I-” 

His voice cut off as tears tracked down his cheeks. After rubbing the tears away, he turned his face away from Yaotome san and toward the group. “I refuse to act in a way that would shame him.” 

That declaration was the only thing ringing through Riku’s head as Tsunashi san had exited the room with determination and gusto.

“Before anyone else leaves I think it would be most beneficial if we can set down some set rules of this investigation time” Sougo san piped up honestly, quite awkwardly.

“That would probably be for the best, Sougo san.” 

Mutters of agreement could be heard among everyone and they had set their own rules the group was to follow in order to make the investigation safer and more efficient.

1\. 2 people would stay near the body at all times to ensure that the culprit does not tamper with the crime scene 

2\. If they are to find any evidence they are to take pictures or record using their kinako mics and similarly if we find a hidden kinako no matter what record the audio using your mics. 

3\. It would be more efficient to stay in groups no bigger than two in order to cover more areas. 

4\. Meet in the cafeteria an hour before the 24-hour time limit ends 

5\. Everyone will be given different colored stickers to mark whether they checked an area or not, if they had investigated said area feel free to mark it down as checked. If an area is marked you can still check it but if there are two or more stickers there it is more likely useful to check elsewhere. 

Riku took a good look at the rules and nodded satisfied with the rules. “Alright, are we ready to go now?” 

Words of agreement came from all the groups and soon they were all off their separate ways.

By the time Riku realized, he and Iori were the only ones left in the electrical room with Yaotome san's body, and he shuddered slightly. It was horrifyingly creepy to stay in a room with a dead body, even if it is somebody you know. 

Riku noticed Iori moving towards the body and managed to build up enough courage to follow him, hiding behind him as if he thought Gaku's body would jump back up at any second. 

Actually, maybe it would be  _ better _ if he sprung back to life. At least it would've meant that the TRIGGER leader wasn't dead, and this nightmare would end. 

Unfortunately, that was not the case, Iori crouching down to inspect the body while Riku simply bent over slightly, not wanting to get any closer to the body than he already was. 

"Iori? What are you doing?" He asked, watching as Iori carefully reached over to Yaotome san's body. Iori continued his motion, not moving his eyes away from scanning the body in front of him. "Someone needs to look over the body, and we're the only ones left in here anyway. We might as well start here." 

As much as Riku was opposed to the idea of moving someone's dead body, he understood that they needed to do it for them to get more clues. So Riku continued to watch, scanning the body curiously as Iori moved some of Gaku's limbs. 

With Gaku simply laying down on his back, it almost looked like he was just sleeping if you ignored the pool of blood beneath him. With this, Riku could see the extent of the damage done that killed the older male. There weren't any other injuries aside from the fatal blow; it looked like several stabs in the middle of his chest, surrounded by patches of blood. Other than that, Yaotome san didn't seem to sustain any other wounds, which felt slightly reassuring in a way.

Riku watched as Iori pulled out his Kinako Mic, taking a couple of pictures, of the stabs before gently shifting Yaotome san into his previous position. Fumbling with his own Kinako Mic, Riku clicked on one of the new applications labeled "Stickers," which printed a sheet of stickers out of the side of his Mic. Pulling it off the side, Riku scanned the stickers a little bit. They were surprisingly cute for their role, a chibi version of himself in front of his signature double-sharp sign. Riku giggled a little, before walking away and sticking one onto the door of the room.

While Iori was investigating the body Riku made sure to investigate the surrounding area to see if he could find anything that could be clues. It was awfully strange how the lights turned off and right when they opened the door the lights turned back on. It almost seemed like magic how that happened. 

Turning toward the gray electrical box, Riku noticed a bright yellow button. The button was slick with blood and still warm to the touch. That’s when Riku noticed the little Kinako sitting atop of the box. Quickly rushing to grab his mic and put it on record, he picked up the plush bunny and looked around till he found a small little button on its hat that was shaped like a cone.

“Myuuu congratulations on finding Kinako hint #2!~ This one is about how the electrical room works. Knowing you dummies wouldn’t be able to handle a normal electrical room I made this one especially for you. All you need to do is hold down that button and all the power will go out until 5 minutes after it is released. Now, what would that have to do with this murder case in particular? Myuuu well that is for you to find out yourselves.” 

Riku blinked before turning off the recording feature and testing it out himself by pressing the yellow button. Almost immediately all the lights turned off and then 5 minutes after he released it the lights flickered back on. Behind him Iori snapped backward, “Nanase san, what did you do?” 

Riku hurriedly took out his kinako mic and let the recording he had of Kinako play. Once hearing the explanation Iori sighed and took out his mic to text everyone else not to worry about the power outage. Then turned to Riku, “Nanase san! What were you thinking?!? A murder just happened here so you can’t just do whatever.” Sighing heavily Iori breathed into his hands, showing signs of obvious stress while muttering under his breath.

Riku felt small bits of guilt eating at him before shaking it off. Now wasn’t the time to feel guilty. He needed to help solve this murder and guilt wasn’t going to help. But then again neither was panicking and stressing over it would either. Looking over at Iori, who was obviously both of those he felt he needed to help him, and soon.

Once Iori finished investigating the body he stood up and without even a glance to Riku walked out muttering under his breath about needing to check this and that.

Riku frowned before putting on a bright smile, an idea coming to mind.

Bouncing over to Iori he chirped up happily “Ne Iori~” 

Iori kept on walking and muttering under his breath totally lost in his own world not hearing a thing that Riku was saying.

“Jeez Iori-” Riku said exasperated before tugging on his arm pulling him back into him. 

“What Nanase san!” Iori snapped back facing Riku with a harsh look, “We don’t have time rig-”

“Boop” 

Iori stopped as Riku placed a sticker on Iori’s cheek. “Nanase san wha-”

“Iori looks cute with my sticker on him heh” 

“Is now really the time to be messing around, Nanase san?” Iori’s face was spotted with red, from anger or embarrassment, Riku did not know.

“Jeez Iori has been so panicked and lost in his own world you can’t even notice when I call you. I rely on and trust Iori lots so you should trust me a little bit as well too.” 

At that Iori gave a surprised look to Riku as if he really did not expect Riku to be able to pick out the disorderly state Iori was in.

“Nanase san..I-” 

“Boop”

Before Iori could finish his sentence Riku placed another sticker on Iori’s forehead, then his nose, then his other cheek, and soon Iori was entirely covered in mini Riku stickers the red perfectly blending in with the violent blush filling in Iori’s cheeks, this time definitely from embarrassment. The traces of despair and anger washed away and only bashfulness and exasperation remained.

“Honestly Nanase san...” Iori gave a slight chuckle and looked away. 

“Ehehe~ Iori should put one of his stickers on me too.” 

“Huh-” Iori spluttered “Why would I do that?” 

“Don’t you think it would look cute?” 

“I-” The blush continued to grow a deeper red “It would but that’s beside the point..” 

“C’mon don’t be shy~” Then Riku pointed to his own cheek “Right here, go boop!” 

“B-boop” 

“Ehehe~ Iori’s so cute.”

"I am  _ not _ cute," Iori argued, putting his stickers away into one of his pockets. 

Riku pouted, still absentmindedly sticking some stickers onto Iori's clothes. "Yes, you are!" 

Out of the corner of his eye, Riku could see Iori about to protest yet again, and quickly placed another sticker on a part of Iori's face that wasn't already covered in stickers, effectively keeping the other male quiet. Riku giggled, a soft smile making its way to his lips, and he could see Iori's own flushed face being taken over by a smile. At one point, they were both just smiling and laughing in the other's presence, and Riku had somehow managed to get Iori to put another sticker on Riku's other cheek. 

If Yamato and Mitsuku hadn't walked in a few minutes later, the two might have forgotten that there was an investigation still being held at the moment. 

The click of the door opening is what alerted the Fly Away duo that someone was coming in, and they both stepped away from each other in a panic as they turned towards the opening door. 

"Nii san?" 

"Yamato san?" 

The mentioned members of the Pythagoras Trio stood at the entrance to the room, a small smirk on both of their lips. 

"Ah, to be young~" Mitsuki teased, walking into the room with Yamato san following. 

Yamato san's smirk only grew as they walked over to the other pair. "What were you two doing in here?" He asked, heavy implications in his tone of voice that not even innocent Riku could ignore. 

This time it was Riku's turn to become flustered, and he buried his face into his hands. He couldn't find the words to respond, peeking through his fingers to hide his growing blush. 

Iori was the one of the two of them to respond, crossing his arms and sending a pointed glare in Yamato san's and Mitsuki"s direction (which wasn't very effective due to all the stickers on his face). "What are you even doing here?"

"Relieving you of your duties!" Mitsuki exclaimed, patting Iori on the head. "We can keep an eye on the body, you two should go investigate a little more!" 

"Make sure not to get sidetracked again," Yamato san added, reaching over and gently pulling one of the stickers off of Iori's clothes. "We can't afford to waste time." 

Iori nodded in understanding, then turned to Riku. 

"Then let's go, Nanase san." Riku also nodded, moving his face out of his hands and waving a small goodbye to Mitsuki and Yamato san before following Iori out of the room.

Once Yamato saw Ichi and Riku walk out of sight he let his carefree and relaxed demeanor slip for a little and chanced a look at the man who was once Yaotome Gaku. Almost the entire room was completely bloody and there were so many wounds on his body that it looked like it was from one of his dramas, one he might’ve inflicted if it was a drama. However, this was real life and the smell of the blood was all too real to be one on set. 

Crouching down to take a closer look at Yaotome he noticed that the expression he held was not one of shock or betrayal. Oddly enough it was one of pain and relief. He looked at peace and a small smile graced his face. 

Emotions flooded him as he looked at him and he smiled. 

“Let’s get a bowl of soba and some beer once this is all over.” 

A warm hand touched his shoulder and Yamato let some tears spill out of his eyes. No words were spoken at this time. Only understanding between the two unit mates and their respect towards their deceased friend.

After Yamato san and Mitsuki took over in the electrical room, Iori took the lead again, this time with confidence and clarity. Once they stopped it was in front of the dorms, more specifically Yaotome san’s dorm room. 

“Do you think there is something here we can find Iori?” 

“I think that there is no reasonable explanation as to why Yaotome san would be in the electrical room in the first place and maybe we might find a clue here” 

“Okay, I’ll make sure to look well.” 

“I would expect no less Nanase san.” 

Coming into Yaotome’s room it was incredibly clean and very modern. Clean cuts of silver making for a very classy room. Looking around everywhere it was a very orderly place, not a single thing out of place. Unexpected for the fiery passionate man. That didn’t deter Iori from looking. Riku observed as Iori looked obsessively through all of Yaotome’s things, occasionally picking up some things and taking pictures of it with his Kinako mic. 

Taking his eyes off Iori, Riku started to focus on his own investigation. He went to the desk littles away from the bed and started to shuffle through the drawers when he noticed that there was an out of place light pink box and underneath the box a notepad. On the notepad, in silver pen writing could be seen. Lots of the words were scribbled out and on the side, there was familiar writing in pink ink and not so familiar blue ink. Lots of the words had been crossed out in the pink pen and underneath a paragraph that was untouched by any other color than silver.

Riku began to read the words written carefully on the page, 

“Takanashi Tsumugi, will you do me the honors of being my dearly beloved Yaotome Tsumugi. Before you scold me about not wanting to jeopardize my career as an idol I have thought long and hard about it, and I would not want to do anything that would make you sad or feel regret for being mine. Tsumugi you are everything to me. I would not want to live a dishonest life by your side and I know that you feel the same. I wish to become your everything as you are mine. There isn’t a day that passes that I do not think of you. I would fight God if it meant I could be by your side. You are such an impressive person with a kind heart. Every time I am with you I find myself falling more and more in love with the person you are. Even if I am an idol, I cannot live my life as a lie and my honest truth is you. So Takanashi Tsumugi please let me become more than your idol and let me become your man.” 

When Riku opened the light pink box what lay inside was a beautiful ring with a band of rose gold engraved with the treble clef and a shining diamond in the middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mirai: Boys really wasted investigation time flirting
> 
> Ain: Looks like it's up to the others to carry this investigation oop
> 
> Anyway o3o
> 
> Plug in time >;3
> 
> If you have not checked it out yet we have a twitter for this o3o https://twitter.com/MirAin_owo
> 
> For today's chapter we have art for the boop scene done by wonderful author mirai and iori and riku stickers ;3
> 
> boop scene:https://twitter.com/MirAin_owo/status/1325710963178287105
> 
> iori and riku stickers: https://twitter.com/MirAin_owo/status/1325710449095053312
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please tell us what you think in the comments and have a lovely day uwu~


	9. Resolve (and pregnancy, apparently)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> investigation time to iNTERROGATION TIME
> 
> also momo tries to steal the kids :,DDD

It took a second for Riku to connect the dots, but when it finally pieced together in his mind, he almost dropped the small box in his hand. 

Yaotome san was going to propose to Manager. 

For a moment, Riku felt like crying all over again. Although the relationship between Manager and Gaku wasn't widely known, even between IDOLiSH7 and TRIGGER (who had ended up figuring it out a few good months later when Yamato san had been awake drinking and Manager was dropped off at the dorms by no one but Yaotome san himself), it was obvious enough that they were definitely in love. Even Riku – who will admit knew close to nothing in terms of relationships – could clearly tell. 

Everyone knew the relationship would go far, to the point that once it was revealed that the two were dating, the adults had taken no hesitation and immediately started teasing Gaku about when he was going to propose. It was always responded with a nonchalant "in time," with Tsumugi usually blushing profusely beside him. 

Thinking about it now, it must have been _heartbreaking_ for Yaotome san to watch Manager die. To watch his love, his _future wife,_ leave him alone in a seemingly never-ending nightmare. 

With shaking hands, Riku carefully placed the ring and the notepad onto the desk, making sure it wouldn't fall right out of his grasp. He didn't even turn in Iori's direction when calling out to him, instead keeping his horrified and broken gaze on the items in front of him. "I-Iori...?"

"Yes, Nanase san?" Came Iori's response, barely registered in Riku's ears. The redhead couldn't even respond, his eyes stuck rereading the words on the page. He didn't even know Iori was beside him until the other's hand brushed against his as it reached out to grab onto the notepad. Riku forced himself to tear his eyes away from it, going to grab his Kinako Mic with still trembling hands in an attempt to distract himself. He somehow managed to take decent, not-too-shaky pictures of the ring, before Iori placed the notepad back onto the table and took a picture of it for himself. Glancing up, Riku could see the depressed look in the other's gaze, but decided against pointing it out.

He'd try to cheer Iori up again, but he didn't have the energy nor the stickers to do so.

Once the pictures were taken and all the evidence gathered, the two of them left the room in silence. Riku chanced a look toward Iori who had peeled off one of the stickers stuck to his face and was staring at it with an intense expression.

“Iori…ah never mind.” 

Riku looked down, he didn’t know what was going on in Iori’s mind, but the least he could do was be here with him. Riku took Iori’s hand and felt as the younger boy relaxed. 

“Thank you, Nanase san.” 

Riku simply nodded. There was a time for everything and although chances could slip through their fingers and nothing is guaranteed. Though Yaotome san’s and Manager’s blooming love was snipped at the stem, the time they spent together was beautiful all the same. Tomorrow was not guaranteed but Riku would fight for it nevertheless. No matter what happens at the trial Riku would move forward so he can live without regrets and \manager could look at him without worry. So that she and Yaotome san can rest easy, Riku would survive through this trial of life and death. This was the resolve he had as he and Iori walked into the cafeteria to meet everyone else.

Glancing up and mentally counting the amount of people, Riku realized that he and Iori were the last to arrive; everybody else was already in the cafeteria, conversing between themselves. He noticed his brother in the corner of the room, standing with Ryuu in silence. It crossed Riku's thoughts to go talk to them, but he had half a mind to know that the two needed time alone to process Gaku's death. 

Instead, Riku trailed behind Iori as the black-haired male headed over to his brother, who was talking with Yamato and Nagi. The shortest of the three didn't have his usual energy, his expression solemn as the Pythagoras Trio conversed with each other. 

But as the Fly Away duo walked up, Mitsuki turned to them, a smile (that even _Riku_ could tell was fake and pained) gracing his features. "Hey you two!" 

Deciding not to mention everyone's solemn expressions, Riku sent a small wave in the group's direction. "Hi again!" 

Despite the obvious worry on Iori's face, the younger Izumi simply greeted his brother as well, his eyes downcast. If anyone noticed the few stickers Iori still had on him that he didn't have the time to remove, no one pointed it out. 

Probably for the better, since Riku liked them on Iori. It was uncharacteristically cute of him. He'd have to remind himself to print some more later. 

A few moments later, Re:Vale called for everyone's attention. 

"Minna, we've got a couple of hours before the trial," Momo said, a serious look on his face. 

Yuki nodded, his eyes scanning everyone in the room. "Yes, and we think it is in everyone's best interest if we discuss what we have found before we go in."

“Ah, if I may raise an objection to this,” Iori said, raising his hand in the air.

“Go ahead go ahead!~ Remember to speak up if you got something to say, any and all input is welcome here wahahaha~” 

“Thank you Momo san, well for one….we have a little less than an hour left, if we were to go around in a circle to a conference there is no way we will get nearly enough information to prepare. Rather I believe it would be more efficient if we were to talk to people individually and share what we gathered separately. Seeing as we all went in pairs it would be better if those pairs split up so we can spread information faster….”

Momo split a wide smile and patted Sougo’s head, “Man, you’re such a smart kid Iori!~ Good idea good idea. I can’t believe you're just a highschooler. I hope our kid is just like you~ Right, Yuki!”

“Oh my, are you pregnant Momo san?” Riku asked wide eyed.

Iori sighed and shook his head, “Honestly Nanase san...”

“What! It’s an honest question!” Riku pouted.

“Mouuuu~ you guys are too cute! Yuki let’s take them, we can sign the adoption papers!”

“Now now, I won’t let you take our kiddos Momo san. Find your own.”

“Who’s kids exactly, ossan?”

“Ours obviously. Yours, mine, and Sou’s kids.”

“Huh??? Since when did I become dad?”

“You and Sou are the moms.”

“What does that mean idiot ossan?”

“I’ll do my very best!”

“You don’t have to take this guy seriously Sougo….”

“Ahem, we are getting off track I believe,” Minami said in the corner of the room. “Are we not already on a limited time?”

“Ah you’re right-” Momo said “Tehe~ sorry that got off track. Anyway yes let’s all split up and share!~”

**Interrogation Time**

Riku looked around for others to talk to and found himself lost for the first time in a long time. He was so used to being surrounded by others to work together with, it was hard being alone again.

As these thoughts were swimming through his head, he had felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around he could see Touma san looking at him worriedly.

“Oi, Riku are you okay? Calm down a little it’s alright.”

“Huh- I-....” Riku took a deep breath. “Thank you Touma san.”

“No problem. Anyway wanna talk?”

“Absolutely!”

_Nanase Riku & Inumaru Touma _

Riku: So you were with Isumi san right, Touma san?

Touma: Yeah, pretty much the whole time. The only time we broke off was when the lights went out. I lost him in the dark.

Riku: Eh, so when did you find him again?

Touma: Hmmm, when everyone found Gaku's... body in the electrical room. ZOOL had a short discussion before I split off with Haru again.

Riku: Ohhhhh, it's nice to see ZOOL getting along nowadays. You look happier too, Touma san. I'm glad!

Touma: Hahaha, thanks Riku. As leader, I'm glad to see ZOOL growing closer too.

Riku: Mmm hmm... although I am sad that now that I can never see TRIGGER performing as a whole again.......

Touma: Same here, but I'm sure Tenn and Ryuu will be able to push forward. They're a strong group, after all.

Riku: ....Yeah, you're right! They're strong and even though they lost precious parts to them they are still doing their best so we got to do our best for Yaotome san and everyone else who died as well. Ehehe, thank you for reminding me of this Touma san. You truly are kind.

Touma: Ahaha, I didn't do anything though... But I'm glad I managed to help somehow. Anyway, it's about time I asked questions of my own, right?

Riku: Go ahead go ahead, I will try my very best to answer them as well as I can.

Touma: Alright, but based off of everything, you were pretty much unconscious the whole time, right? At least until Gaku's body was found.

Riku: Ah, I did wake for a bit when Iori left and Tenn nii came in but other than that I was sleeping the whole time.

Touma: Iori left? For how long?

Riku: From when Tenn nii came in and till we all found Yaotome san's body...mmm that would be around an hour I believe?...Wait, you can't be suspecting Iori, right? Iori would never do something like this!

Touma: I didn't suggest anything Riku, don't worry–! I'm just gathering more info is all.

Hmmm, about Tenn though... Do you know anything about his whereabouts before he visited you?

Riku: Sorry Touma san. I didn't mean to get all defensive. As for Tenn nii... I don't know anything about where he was before he visited me, but he was with me for a good hour or so and he kept me warm and let me lie on his stomach just like when I was little ehehe

Touma: Don't worry about it Riku, I understand. 

Aight, thanks for the information, Riku. You didn't happen to see anyone else before Gaku's body was found though, did you?

Riku: Hmmmm I don't quite remember...all I remember is Tenn nii and Iori. And I'm sure neither of them would ever hurt Yaotome san!....Then again, I can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt him.

Touma: It's hard to imagine anyone here wanting to hurt someone in general, huh?

Riku: But someone did....I wonder why though?

Touma: It's definitely related to one of the motives, right? Which were...

Riku: The captives were one! But there was only Banri san and the President left alive....

Touma: Another one was the air thinning out, which got particularly dangerous for you specifically...

Riku: Oh that's right... There was also the one where you can bring someone out with you if you kill and get away with it

Touma: With all of that... It's likely someone close to you, Oogami Banri or President Takanashi, right–?

Riku: But would they really risk their own life or even everyone else's life for us?

Touma: I'd like to think not, but we're practically pushed into a corner here...

Riku:.....

Riku: I don't want to doubt anyone Touma san...

Riku: But we will all die if we don't doubt.

Riku: What am I supposed to do...

Touma: ...

Touma: I don't know...

Riku: ...

Riku: I don't want to think anyone did this. However if they did I do think in the end I would forgive them.

Riku: They must be suffering a lot having to lie to all of us and kill their dear friends

Riku: So more than anything I want to forgive them. I don’t think they have ill intent. So I'll save them before they have anything to regret

Riku: Is that an okay conclusion to come up with Touma san?

Touma: ...Yeah, that's a good conclusion, Riku.

Touma: I just hope everyone else feels a similar way...

Riku: Thank you for talking to me Touma san! I feel better talking to you now. I think I can face this case now with no regrets.

Touma: I'm glad I could help in some way.

**Interrogation Time: Nanase Riku & Inumaru Touma End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so
> 
> y'all get to pick what happens next uwu
> 
> should we let riku talk to more people or go straight into the trial?
> 
> comment below :DDD
> 
> (Mirai: all of a sudden this sounds like a basic youtuber ending and i dont like it-
> 
> Ain: nah it's not a basic youtuber thing   
> it's called authors are just very much done with life)


	10. Talking With Cinnamon Rolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interrogation time with two more people
> 
> Cinnamon roll squad uwu

Touma sighed, signalling the end of the conversation. "Well, it's about time we go talk to someone else for now." 

Riku nodded, grinning. "Good idea!" He agreed, before his smile softened slightly. "Thank you again, Touma san." 

Waving him off, Touma pat Riku on the head. "Nah, I didn't do much. Good luck from here, Riku." 

"You too, Touma san!" 

The two part ways, Riku watching as Touma immediately headed over to ZOOL, likely to discuss what they found out. Riku debated over whether he should go talk to Iori and do the same, before his train of thought was interrupted as he bumped into someone. The redhead glanced up, bowing apologetically. "I'm sorry–" 

The sound of footsteps is heard, and Riku watched as the person he bumped into – Tenn nii, it turned out – walk away, not sparing a single glance back towards him. Riku almost went to call out to him, before he felt a hand on his shoulder. The redhead turned around, only to make eye contact with Tsunashi san. 

"He needs a bit of time, Riku kun," the older said, a sad smile on his lips. "I feel like he hasn't really come to terms with Gaku just yet..." 

Nodding in understanding, Riku simply watched as Tenn nii joined a conversation with Mitsuki and Sougo. He felt Tsunashi san give a small, reassuring pat on his shoulder, and the redhead relaxed a little bit. 

Tsunashi san smiled, a little bit less sad this time. "Do you want to talk, then? I'm free." 

Riku nodded almost immediately. Everyone else already seemed to be talking to one another already, anyway. "Of course!" 

**Interrogation Time: Nanase Riku & Tsunashi Ryunosuke - Start **

Ryuu: Anything you want to ask, Riku kun? 

Riku: Hmmmmm..Ah! Well this is kind of a touchy subject but what did TRIGGER do after...umm...the executions...?

Ryuu: Ah, that time? The three of us went outside, into an area that looked like a parking lot. 

Riku: Ah that place! Iori told me about that. What happened after? 

Ryuu: Hmm, we stayed there for a while, before Tenn pointed something out that we didn't notice was there the last time.

Riku: Ohh what did Tenn niii point out? Must be important, Tenn nii is really good at finding hidden clues~ 

Riku: Like when were kids and we played Tenn nii always found the easter eggs our parents hid or the treasure chests when we played pirates and he always gave them to me! 

Riku: Ah! Sorry I went off track there for a bit. 

Ryuu: Ahahah, it's okay! It's nice to hear about how Tenn was like before we formed TRIGGER. 

Ryuu: There was a door, hidden relatively well. We went to see where it led and it seemed to be to another room, kind of like a shed? 

Riku: Ohhhhh how exciting! Like a real live treasure hunt, or like spies in a movie. 

Riku: So what was inside? 

Ryuu: Not much really, just a few tools and such. There was another door though, it led to... 

Ryuu: ... 

Ryuu: The electrical room. 

Riku: The electrical room.... 

Riku: .... 

Riku: Was there anyone else who knew about this? 

Ryuu: No, I don't think so... It was kept between the three of us...

Riku: Then.... 

Riku: No... 

Riku: It can't be, right? 

Ryuu: ...Let's not make assumptions just yet. 

Ryuu: Maybe someone else found it between the time we did and Gaku's death. 

Riku: ... 

Riku: Yeah! You're right. This isn't complete evidence yet. 

Ryuu: Mm! There was a pretty big time gap between those two times... A couple of hours, maybe? Plenty of time for someone else to find it. 

Riku: Thank you for sharing this with me Tsunashi san! I'll be sure to keep this in mind. 

Ryuu: I'm glad I could answer your questions, Riku kun! 

Riku: Tsunashi san... 

Riku: Can I ask you for a favor? 

Ryuu: Hm? Of course, what is it? 

Riku: What you told me about the secret door...can you keep it a secret during the trial? 

Riku: Or at least for now 

Ryuu: ...Are you sure this is something you want to hide from the others? 

Riku: Just for now. ... 

Riku: Can you trust me on this for now Tsunashi san? 

Ryuu: Alright. I trust you, Riku kun. 

Riku: Thank you Tsunashi san! 

Riku: I'm glad I got to talk to you. You're really kind! 

Riku: Just like a reliable older brother~ 

Ryuu: Ahaha, that probably comes with having younger siblings, but thank you! I'm glad I could help. 

**Interrogation Time: Nanase Riku & Tsunashi Ryunosuke End **

A small smile overtook Tsunashi san’s face as he reached out and lightly ruffled Riku’s hair. “You’re a good kid Riku kun.” 

It was visible to anyone who saw him that traces of sadness lingered, a hole that couldn’t be repaired, was displayed on his strong facade to be the strong one. 

In response Riku gave a bright smile back. For now, this would be enough and hopefully some day that hole in Tsunashi san’s heart can be repaired. “Thank you Tsunashi san, there should be enough time for just one more talk, so i’m going to look for someone to talk to.” 

“No problem Riku kun. Everything is going to be okay.” 

“It has to be...” 

“Mmhmm, it’s going to be alright. I know it will be, I trust all of us.” 

“...”

With those words Riku turned back and bumped right into Tamaki. 

Riku almost fell over from the surprise of unexpectedly bumping into someone, but Tamaki, with his usual quick reflexes, managed to grab onto Riku's wrist to keep him from falling. 

"Rikkun, be careful," Tamaki advised, concern etched onto his face as he helped Riku regain his balance. "Are you okay?" 

Riku nodded, smiling at Tamaki. "Yep! Thank you, Tamaki!" He replied, bouncing slightly. "You're always really quick to react!" 

Tamaki grinned back, a stark contrast from the dark atmosphere of the room. Riku was honestly grateful for it; the amount of strong emotions in the cafeteria was enough to set him on edge as well. Seeing a bright, genuine smile aside from his own felt healing in a way. 

Of course, the fact that it could be Tamaki's own way of coping crossed Riku's mind for a brief second, but he shook it off. Whether it was genuine or not, Tamaki seemed to light up the room on his own, and for that Riku was glad. It was definitely better than the gloomy faces of most of the other idols. 

In any case, Tamaki's grin didn't fade at all, even as he glanced at Riku with a questioning gaze. "Nee, do you need someone to talk to? I'm free right now!" 

Riku nodded, feeling slightly more energized thanks to Tamaki. "Mhmm! I just finished talking with Tsunashi san, so I'm free now too!" 

Tamaki's face lit up and his grin grew even wider if it were possible. "Let's talk then, Rikkun!" He said, somewhat excitedly, and the two fall into conversation. 

**Interrogation Time: Nanase Riku & Yotsuba Tamaki - Start **

Tamaki: You can start, Rikkun! 

Riku: Uhmmm wow when you ask right away it's hard to think. 

Riku: Well let's see, did you find anything worth noting? 

Tamaki: Hmmm, not reallyyy. I was with Souchan most of the time, but all we did was walk around until the lights went off~ 

Riku: Anything during investigation? 

Tamaki: Hmmmmm, if I think about it, during investigation time we went to the kitchen, and it looked like one of the knives were missing... 

Riku: Do you know if someone took it to cook? 

Tamaki: I don't think so... it was there after everyone ate, I think. 

Riku: Would that mean it's the knife is the murder weapon? It looks like the one that was impaled in Yaotome san was a knife but to think it was from the kitchen. 

Riku: That makes it feel real that it really was someone here.. 

Tamaki: I don't want to think it was someone here... Mmm but who else could it be-? 

Tamaki: Hmm when I left the kitchen though, the only ones left were Iorin, Tenten, Ryuu aniki and Gakkun. 

Riku: Hmmm normally that would make them the most suscpious...but I don't think Iori would ever do something like this and Tenn nii wouldn't either. It can't be Yaotome san who took it and Tsunashi san was also part of TRIGGER..... 

Riku: ......it really is too hard to suspect anyone huh... 

Tamaki: This is hard... I don't want to be suspicious of anyone! 

Riku: But we have to try.... 

Riku: Ah that reminds me! You said you were with Sougo san right? Did either of you get seperated at all? 

Tamaki: Ah, Souchan left me in my room because he said he had to discuss something with Yamasan! But that was way before the body was discovered and he came back later... 

Riku: What did you end up doing while he was gone? 

Tamaki: I just searched around my room~ there isn't really much in it thoughhh, so all I did after was lay on my bed. 

Riku: AH that reminds me did you by chance find anything important when you were with Sougo san? Anything...perhaps not quite easy to find? 

Tamaki: Hmmm, not really... It's better to ask Souchan for that sort of stuff! 

Riku: True true, Sougo san always keeps good note on everything! He really is like Tenn nii in that way ehehe 

Tamaki: You really admire Tenten huh, Rikkun? 

Tamaki: Oh yeah, what about you? Did you find anythinggg? 

Riku: Ah well....oh right! We found a hidden kinako! 

Tamaki: Really? Souchan and I only found one, they're hard to find~ 

Tamaki: It only mentioned most of what I said though.

Riku: It was~ Iori and I only managed to find one too! 

Riku: Well it was about how the lights work....I wonder if that was really relevant to the case though? 

Tamaki: Hmm... Do you think it could point to who turned the lights off? You know, like when they turned off before you guys found the bodyyy 

Riku: True...so it has to be someone who just recently left the electrical room huh..... 

Tamaki: Hngh but it's hard to tell since the lights were off anywayyy! 

Tamaki: Oh, how do the lights work anyway, Rikkun? 

Riku: Oh right! So according to the mini kinako, the lights will turn on 5 minutes after you release the button. So the button must have been released right before the lights turned on which means the killer had to have been there 5 minutes before. OH! That gives us a time frame!! 

Tamaki: YAYYY! Oh, but that would mean the killer couldn't have been with anyone just before the lights turned off, right? 

Riku: Yeah! You're right! That has to narrow down our list of suspects right! 

Tamaki: Let's ask the others later if they were with someone when the lights turned off! 

Riku: That sounds like a good plan! 

**Interrogation Time: Nanase Riku & Yotsuba Tamaki - End **

Tamaki grinned at Riku, patting him on the head. "Rikkun, you found a lot of stuff!" 

Giggling at the gesture, Riku sent back an equally bright smile. "You and Sougo san found a lot of clues, too! I'm sure it'll be helpful in the trial!" 

Riku could see Tamaki about to respond, before a large _bang_ startled them both out of their conversation. Turning towards the noise, Riku noticed Kinako hopping angrily atop a table, holding a pair of metal pans that it seemed to use as cymbals to call everyone's attention. How Kinako was holding the pans, Riku will never know, since the thing didn't even have arms, let alone hands. But that was a question for another day, as everybody turned towards Kinako's frowning face. 

"You're all LATE! I can't believe this!" It huffed angrily, dropping the pans with a loud _clang,_ Kinako itself bouncing off of the table and plopping right onto the floor. "Myuuu, I could have you all executed for this, you know!" 

From across the room, Riku noticed Iori send a skeptical glare at the bunny. "But you won't, because that would frankly be, and I quote, 'no fun.'" 

Kinako laughed. "You're a smart one, Izumi Iori! It's _loads_ more fun to have you all deal with the trial, which should be happening RIGHT THIS SECOND!" The pink ball of fluff then hopped towards the exit from the cafeteria. "Come on! We don't have all day, myuu myuu~"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ain: Merry late xmas
> 
> Ain: Sorry our weekly updates turned into monthly-
> 
> Mirai: lol and they will cONTINUE to be monthly uwu
> 
> Mirai: Hope y'all liked the chapter! We're finally getting to trial time lolol


	11. The long awaited....(took freaking 10 chaps to get here) TRIAL

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WE ARE FINALLY AT THE *bangs head against table* TRIAL

And like that the world blacked out and in a moment color came flooding back. Under his eyes ached and his head spun but when Riku could see clearly once more the trial room came clearly into sight. It was a wooden area with a slight smell of sweat and a dryness of flour. And in a circle a podium of sleek silver, a harsh, stark difference from the rest of the room giving it a modern professional feel stood. On one of the podiums was a portrait of Yaotome san, looking directly at the camera, as if taking a picture for school. That was odd... those aren't the kind of pictures idols took and moreso it looked very new. As if it was taken moments before, the gaku in the picture and the one that was alive moments earlier was barely different at all.

Forcing himself to look away Riku saw everyone take a spot on a podium and Riku took one that sat next to Iori and Tamaki. And once his foot stepped in place a wild explosion happened at a seat near the back.

Riku shielded his eyes, holding his breath in an attempt to not trigger an attack as dust and debris flew everywhere. He felt Iori beside him keep them both grounded, and Riku spared a grateful glance at the other male, who didn't quite see it thanks to the explosion. 

As everything died down, Riku lowered his arms from his face, letting out the breath he had been holding in. Noticing Iori give him a worried look, Riku smiled, giving him a thumbs up to signal that he was perfectly fine. He watched Iori's expression soften slightly, before the both of them shifted their gazes to where the explosion had come from. 

A mock stage sat where there had been empty space seconds before, Kinako atop it, settled into a chair that looked far too familiar. It took a moment, before Riku realized it was actually the President's chair that Riku had always seen in his office. The rabbit beamed, before glancing down at a spot right below the stage. 

Following the rabbit's gaze, Riku paled slightly. Re:Vale, who had been the closest to the explosion, were both on the floor, Yuki seeming to shield Momo with his own body. Riku couldn't fully see everything from where he was, but with the amount of blood pooling across the floor that was in Riku's line of sight, he could tell things hadn't ended smoothly. 

The redhead watched Momo sit up, gently moving Yuki up with him. "Yuki! Are you okay?!" 

Yuki simply smiled. "I'm fine, Momo. Just a scratch~" 

"That is clearly not just a scratch!" 

"It feels like one." 

"Yuki, I love you and that was so ikemen, but you need to get help!" 

"I swear, Momo, I'm fine. We're in the middle of a trial." 

"We haven't even started yet! It's fine if you skip this one, Yuki!" 

Kinako laughed from his place on the podium. "Myuu, not so fast! I didn't say he could leave~!"  
Momo glared up at Kinako, and if looks could kill, Kinako might have dropped dead right that second. "He can't participate in the trial like this!" 

"Well TOO BAD! If none of you had been late then maybe this wouldn't have happened~" 

Momo looked just about ready to jump onto the stage and throw hands with Kinako, before Sougo stepped up. He had his scarf folded in his arms, holding it out towards Momo. "Momo san, you can use this to try and stop the bleeding." Noticing Momo about to retort, likely to refuse the scarf so they didn't dirty it, Sougo gently placed it into his arms. "I have a lot of spares in my room, it's alright."  
Nagi and Minami, after sparing a quick glance at each other, walk over as well. "We know a little bit about medical treatment, we can handle it," Minami said, smiling comfortingly. 

The blonde beside him nodded. "We know a little bit after taking care of Haruki~" 

Momo looked like he was about to cry, and his grip on Yuki visibly loosened as he relaxed slightly. "Thank you," he managed to say, smiling gratefully.

Seeming dissatisfied now that the group was relatively more collected a pout overtook Kinako’s face, “Myyyyuuuu well then shall we get started alreadyyyyy~ I’ve been waiting forever ya know!” 

“But Yuki hasn’t even been full-”

“Yada yada yada he’ll live” Kinako bristled “Yall are babies freaking out over this, even he said himself that it’s only a small tiny scratch and here you guys are getting all worked up over it!! Myuuuu we have a trial we have been waiting on for foreverrrr~ Man you idols sure love to take your ol sweet time. Took you daysss to get the first kill, late to the trial, and even now you guys are stallingg~ It’s almost like you don’t wanna get to the fun stuff.”

Looking around, everyone was ready to retort or just straight sock Kinako in the face but for obvious reasons everyone held back, albeit it appeared some took more restraint than others. Riku understood the frustration well..to see or hear something so obviously wrong and be powerless to do anything against it...

After some silence Kinako nodded evidently pleased with itself and hopped around the chair before grabbing a gavel and clearing it’s throat. 

“Ahem ahem, so we are finally on to the part everyone has been waiting for! The long awaited trial of life and death~ Will the innocent prevail or will the cunning murderer get away with it and walk free! Find out after this commercial break tehepero ;3 ”  
'  
“...”

“Gah! You guys are no funnnn. Fineeeee I’ll get on with it. So first of all the rules, hmm hmm yes yes so basically find the killer if you don’t you die. Majority vote rules. If you don’t vote you don’t live. Yada yada. You can use evidence you collected and saved on your kinako mics or from memory, I don’t really care. These rules are of course bound to be changed with a single word from yours truly and well in this case if the killer wins they are free to bring out with them the hostages as well as one other person here. So that should be it~ Have fun and let’s get this trial startedddddd!~ ”

Trial 1 - Start 

Yamato: ...We should probably get started, huh? As much as no one here wants to.

Minami: Yes..that is probably the only option we have at this point.

Touma: Does anyone have anything they want to point out?

Mitsuki: Well we should start with the obvious! Did anyone manage to find any of the mini kinakos?

Riku: Oh! Iori and I did in the electrical room!

Iori: that we did....Nanase san should have it recorded on his Kinako mic.

Riku: Uwah, right! Uhm... There!

Recording: “Myuuu congratulations on finding Kinako hint #2!~ This one is about how the electrical room works. Knowing you dummies wouldn’t be able to handle a normal electrical room I made this one especially for you. All you need to do is hold down that button and all the power will go out until 5 minutes after it is released. Now, what would that have to do with this murder case in particular? Myuuu well that is for you to find out yourselves.”

Torao: Woah that seems like a really important hint. So that means that the murder had to have taken place relatively close to the time we found the body. After all the lights turned off and back on extremely close to the time we found the body.

Touma: ...You said something smart just now–

Torao: Huh? I'm always smart and handsome.

Haruka: You wish.

Sougo: So about that time limit... that means it has to have been someone without an alibi around that time. I was with Tamaki kun at that time, can everyone else confirm their alibis?

Riku: I was with Tenn nii! It was difficult finding our way through the building with the lights off, hehehe~!

Tenn: Yeah, you can't just run off like that Riku, you can't be so careless. But, yes I can confirm that we were together when we found the body and a little bit before hand.

Yamato: Mitsu, Nagi and I were in Nagi's room when the lights went out.

Yamato: Even now, Nagi finds ways to drag us into Kokona marathons...

Yuki: I was with Momo the entire time doing ahem private stuff

Momo: Darling, why did you make it sound so suspicious~! We were just hanging out together!

Yuki: I just wanted to scare the kids Momo.

Momo: Pfft, but you shouldn't be scaring them in situations like this-!

Momo: Anyway, we're clear! Anyone else?

Minami: I was with Midou san just about the entire time and we ran into Isumi san and Inumaru san a couple of times and they seemed to stick together for the most part.

Touma: Yeah, we were together until the lights turned off at least. I lost him at that point, but he was there at the body discovery.

Touma: I doubt he could kill someone in five minutes though.

Iori:....Are we not misunderstanding this?

Iori: The murder could have taken place at any time and the light could have been switched for any amount of time. If the killer passed briefly to switch the lights then they only needed to be gone for a second.

Yamato: ...That's true. They'd only have to leave for a bit to turn off the lights.

Iori: For now I believe it would be best to leave this conversation for later and gather as much evidence as we can and revisit once we have more.

Momo: True... Does anyone else have anything then? Did anyone find another mini kinako?

Sougo: Tamaki kun and I found one earlier by the kitchen area...and we believe we also know what the murder weapon was. Tamaki kun you have the files and the recording right?

Tamaki: Mhmm~ One second!

Recording: Myu myu myu myu you finally found kinako mini clue no 3 took long enoughhhh: this one is a very important one so listen up ya brats! The poor poor victim mister Yaotome Ga- whatever was stabbed 2 times, once in the stomach and another one in the chest very very close to ye ol heart. However it barely missed the mark and he was left to die a veryyyyyyyyyyyyyy slow death. Boo hoo hoo.

Iori: it appears my hunch was right....

Mitsuki: Did you say something Iori?

Iori: It's simply your imagination.

Iori: Anyway, you said you might know what the murder weapon was?

Tamaki: Mhmm~ one of the knives went missing after everyone went to eat! We went back to the kitchen during investigation and it was goneee.

Sougo: If memory serves correctly the people left were Iori kun , Kujou san, Tsunashi san, and Yaotome san.

Tamaki: Mhm! We left before they did! Dunno how long they were there for though~

Ryuu: I was with Tenn and Gaku about the whole time and I'm pretty sure mmm maybe not but I do think that it was still there when we left. I remember Tenn and I had to wait for Gaku to throw away our trash for a little and while he was gone I took a look at the knifes briefly and they were there.

Riku: Ah, then they were still there when you guys left?

Ryuu: They were...but its weird because I am pretty sure Iori kun left before us so when we left the room was also empty

Yamato: Then they were probably taken after...

Yamato: How long was this before the body discovery?

Ryuu: Probably around 3 hours

Nagi: OH, that is plenty of time for someone to go back to the kitchen and grab the knife!

Haruka: Who was alone during that time frame...?

Iori: I think that must have been the time where Kujou san and I switched looking after Nanase san. I have no alibi but.... well you can suspect me but let's go over all the evidence we have first before we get into that.

Touma: Aight, let's go through everything else then.

Riku: Mhmm! I don't want to suspect Iori!

Yamato: Anyone else have something they need to say?

Torao: Hmmmm....AH I got it! Minami, can't you just use your fortune telling to be able to determine the killer?!

Minami: ..........

Touma: ...Tora I don't think that's how it works–

Haruka: Dumbass.

Minami: Midou san, if it worked like that we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

Torao: But aren't you like saving it up for when we really need it most?

Minami: I'll explain it another time...

Minami: Anyway, something has been bothering me. Based on this recent mini kinako clue, Yaotome san did not die instantly, and by looking at the room it was covered wall to wall with blood, this indicates that likely Yaotome san was moving around before he finally died. There are 2 things I would like to address, one is why did Yaotome stay inside the room when he could have left and yelled for help. The second, how did the killer manage to get out of the room without drawing attention to the blood on their prospective clothes

Yamato: True, with all of that Yaotome should've called for help, and if he had any will left to live he would have...

Mitsuki: Don't compare him to you idiot ossan.

Yamato: Oi Mitsu...

Haruka: ...

Haruka: Unless he didn't have any will left...

Mitsuki: What do you mean? Yaotome is such a strong willed person I can't see why he wouldn't have any will left?

Touma: ...If we consider every execution up until now, didn't Yaotome deal with a really heavy loss? He lost both his dad and his girlfriend in the span of a few days...

Touma: That'd be hard on anyone.

Tenn: ...don't-

Iori: What was that Kujou san?

Tenn: DON'T UNDERESTIMATE HIM LIKE THAT. GAKU WAS THE STRONGEST, DENSEST, IDIOTIC PERSON OUT OF ALL OF US

Tenn: He wou-

Tenn: He wouldn't break like that..

Tenn: Even if his dad and his girlfriend died that idiot wouldn't have stopped till he avenged them. He loves so passionately that he isn't just gonna stop struggling

Tenn: He had to have another reason...another reason if he actually gave up.....

Ryuu: Tenn....

Ryuu: Can we come back to this topic later?

Riku: ...Tenn nii...

Momo: If it's okay, we can move on-! It's probably for the best if we don't talk about this right now.

Tenn: ....

Ryuu: Thank you

Yuki: So how about the 2nd question? Why didn't the killer have bloody clothes?

Touma: There's only one way into the room, right? But it's in a high traffic area– one of us would have seen him trying to leave.

Yuki: True...this is troubling...

Ryuu:.....

Riku: .......

Yamato: ...We're stuck. We should move to other clues for now, if anyone else has anything to say.

Mitsuki: Well so far we have had kinako clue 2 and 3...that means there are 1 still missing and anything beyond that. Did anyone find them?

Touma: Haru and I didn't find any.

Momo: Neither did me and Yuki! They're difficult to find-!

Yamato: So only Fly Away and MEZZO found any?

Minami: And probably the culprit. There's still one that someone is definitely holding back on.

Haruka: Huh...? What makes you sound so sure, Minami?

Touma: There is a chance that we didn't find it.

Minami: Nanase san, Osaka san. Around what time did you find those kinako clues?

Riku: Uhm, just a bit after the body was found, I think. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes after investigation time started...?

Sougo: It took a while to walk to the kitchen and we went and looked a little around other places too so it must have taken a good hour or two

Yamato: Huh, didn't we have way more time than that though? We should've been able to find more than two in this timeframe.

Yuki: wouldn't that means that either the culprit either found many, or more than one person is holding back information

Touma: It's likely that the culprit only found one, since we were all looking and only two groups managed to find one.

Haruka: ...But that means someone is hiding something, not just the killer!

Mitsuki: But why would anyone do that??? If they found something shouldn't they tell us?

Riku: They should! I don't know why they'd hide it though...

Nagi: OH! What if it's an accomplice~?

Sougo: That means...we're back to square one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mirai: sorry it took us 10 chapters to even sTART a trial =3=
> 
> Ain: Meant to have this up by new years buttttttttttttttttttttt  
> o3o  
> anyway  
> HAPPY NEW YEARS AND WELCOME TO THE TRIAL STAGE! Leave ur guesses in the comments ;3


	12. steamroller sougo is essential

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> trial continued :,D

Sougo: That means...we're back to square one.

Touma: Unless that person decides to reveal the hints, which is kinda unlikely since they haven't done it by now...

Mitsuki: Well, if they refuse to reveal, then there's nothing to be done. Let's just move on to other things we have found.

Yamato: Does anyone have anything else they can share? As long as it's something since we're running out of clues...

Mitsuki: Ah! How about we review what we found first. Maybe then we can generate conversation and hopefully spark some ideas! What about you do the honors ossan~

Yamato: Mou, why me... 

Yamato: ...Anyway, currently what we have is that about three hours before the lights turned off, TRIGGER left the kitchen, and between that and the body discovery, someone took a knife. No one was alone during the time frame, save for maybe Ichi, but we'll get to that. 

Yamato: Based on the mini kinakos, the murderer had to have been in the room 5 minutes prior to the lights being turned back on to turn them off in the first place. On top of that, Yaotome didn't immediately die, according to hint number 3. 

Yamato: The only things we have questions on right now are, first off, why Yaotome didn't call for help, and second, how none of us noticed the killer leaving the electrical room. 

Yamato: And also, why anyone would decide to hide any clues from us...

Mitsuki: Having said that.....is there anything new anyone wants to bring up right now?

Riku: ...

Touma: We're really stuck here, huh...

Momo: Let's try and detail it a bit this time? It feels somewhat repetitive, but it's the only thing we can do right now...

Mitsuki: Okay, first thing first, why don't we talk about how the killer escaped totally clean without anyone noticing.

Mitsuki: A couple of possibilities I thought of were...the killer found a secret back entrance, the killer escaped while the lights were off and changed quickly, the killer had a change of clothes and wiped down.

Mitsuki: With the secret back entrance, they still needed to pass by others to change into different clothes.

Mitsuki: With the lights off, that is one of the most likely possibilities, but that would mean they would be one of the last to arrive.

Mitsuki: And with the change of clothes and wiping down, that would mean someone had to have found the killer’s clothes as evidence.

Riku: What if they planned it _super_ thoroughly and brought an extra set of clothes with him? The killer would be able to change in the room and leave without looking too suspicious–!

Yuki: That's true, but they would have had to leave the clothes somewhere; otherwise, they would be carrying a bunch of bloody clothes.

Yamato: Plus, wouldn't it look super suspicious to Yaotome? No one just carries around a set of clean clothes.

Yuki: That is also true...so would that mean that the 2nd option is most likely. If so, in what order did we enter the crime scene?

Momo: Hmmm... Wait! Yuki darling, weren't we the last ones-?

Yuki: Ahem, ah never mind then. The 2nd option isn't a possibility.

Momo: Pfft darling~!

Momo: Although, it really can't be us... We were with each other the whole time!

Yamato: That severely debunks our only theories, though.

Iori: But didn't we already establish that there is likely an accomplice, so that means it still could have been Re:vale..

Haruka: True... They could be vouching for each other.

Momo: Uwah-! Darling, the kids are suspecting us!!!

Yuki: Now that's not very nice kids, you're gonna make Momo cry.

Nagi: OH! Sorry Mister Momo, Mister Yuki~

Touma: Wait, hold on we're getting severely off track here–!

Yamato: Steamroller Sougo, go–!

Sougo: Huh??

Riku: Ahahah!

Momo: Pfffft–

Touma: Guys, focus!

Sougo: Oh right! What about the 1st option? What if they did the 1st one and the 3rd one. If they moved in a secret back entrance and changed away from everyone and then came out from there, then no one would suspect a thing.

Tamaki: That's truee. It’d be harder to find them since the entrance is secret after all~ 

Yamato: If that's the case, we'd have to know where the secret back entrance is for a bit more info...

Mitsuki: Well, how about we brainstorm a little about the possible places it could be.

According to the map on the kinako mic... the electrical room, which is where the murder happened, is adjacent to the trial room/concert hall, the boiler room, the shed connected to the parking lot, and the outdoor area.

Touma: It can't be connected to the trial room since no one was allowed in here before now...

Sougo: And it can't be outside because that would mean that there would be no place to change

Momo: So that leaves the shed in the parking lot!

Yamato: Did anyone go there and see it, though?

Iori: Probably not, otherwise they would have spoken up.

Mitsuki: Jeez so that means that we have no guarantee that's what happened!

Sougo: Well, let's just move on with the assumption that that is what they did.

Haruka: ...Well, assuming they did that, they'd have to have left the parking lot at some point.

Tamaki: Trueee. Did anyone see someone leave the parking lot?

Mitsuki: Well, I know TRIGGER went there a couple of times along with me and Iori but close to the time where the murder would have taken place... I am unsure

Momo: It's a little hard to tell since most of us were off doing our own thing when the murder took place...

Touma: Was anyone even nearby the parking lot at all when the lights went out? Like in the outdoor area or the mess hall?

Sougo: I believe we established that no one was in the kitchen or mess hall around the time of the murder..

Sougo: However, it is likely that there was someone in the outdoor area.

Yamato: Was anyone out there? And if you were, mind telling us if you saw anything?

Minami: Well, how about we state where we were around that time then. That way, even if they try to come up with an excuse, we may be able to catch the culprit in a lie ufufu.

Touma: That's a good idea, Mina. Who's willing to go first?

Yuki: Well, Momo and I were going to visit Riku-kun in the infirmary and see how he is doing, but Momo said he had something to do in his dorm real quick and asked me to wait outside. By the time the lights went out and the announcement was made, Momo still was in the dorm and told me not to come in.

Momo: Darling, you make it sound so suspicious~! I was in the middle of changing my clothes when the lights turned off! I couldn't see anything, so I had to wait for the lights to be able to get dressed fully.

Momo: I'm glad you waited all that time though, Yuki~

Yuki: I would wait an eternity for you, Momo.

Sougo: Well, seeing as it seems like you weren't close to the electrical room around 5 minutes before the lights went out, I would say the two of you should be clear for now...

Sougo: Tamaki-kun wanted to take a nap around that time, so we were in the dorm. While Tamaki-kun was napping, I ended up composing a little bit...

Tamaki: Mhmm~ I had a nice nappp.

Yamato: Ah, Mitsu, Nagi, and I were also in the dorms.

Nagi: OH, yes~ we were watching Kokona!

Iori: It seems like many people were at the dorms...did you guys happen to run into anyone else who said they were at the dorms?

Touma: ZOOL was mostly walking around, and I don't think we saw any of them, aside from Yuki-san, who was waiting outside what was probably Momo-san's room.

Haruka: Which means the people who said they were at the dorms are probably clear…

Iori: Kujou-san and Nanase-san were supposedly in the infirmary together....

Iori: That would leave Tsunashi-san and me without alibis....

Nagi: Oh? I thought you were with Riku, Iori? Did you leave?

Iori: Ah...

Iori: Well, Kujou-san and I switched places for a bit, and he offered to care for Nanase san..

Touma: We did see Kujou nearby the infirmary at some point…

Yamato: So based on that, the only ones without alibis are Tsunashi-san and Ichi?

Tenn: Izumi Iori...you seem awfully suspicious...what are you hiding?

Riku: But Iori wouldn't do it! He wouldn't kill Yaotome san!

Haruka: ...But we didn't see him after he left the infirmary. Izumi, where did you go after?

Iori: I...

Iori: I can't say

Iori: It isn't for the reasons you are thinking but....it's something I absolutely cannot disclose right now.

Touma: I hate to say it, but... that's really suspicious....

Riku: No! It can't be him!

Iori: Nanase-san...

Iori: You have every right to suspect me. In fact, at the moment, I can come up with no defense for myself...Nanase-san, why do you continue to believe in me so faithfully?

Riku: I... 

Riku: I don't want to believe it's you. 

Riku: You've been supporting me this whole time, even while in this "game..." Whenever I woke up, it was always either you or Tenn-nii next to me... 

Riku: I just... _can't_ believe it's you.

Iori: Nanase-san....

Iori: pfft

Iori: Thank you, Nanase-san.

Iori: I cannot disclose upon you what I was doing during the time the lights went out or why I left Nanase-san. However...

Iori: I can tell you guys this.

Riku: Hm? What is it, Iori?

Iori: The killer wasn't alone, that much I know. In fact, the said accomplice is most likel- no definitely none other than Yaotome Gaku.

Riku: ...Eh?!

Tamaki: Wait, but isn't Gakkun the one dead? How could he have helped when he died?

Iori: Think about it. Looking at the crime scene, there was blood splattered everywhere around the room, and by the time we got there, the body was still warm, meaning he wasn't dead for long. That brings to question why he didn't scream for help and why there were no signs of struggle.

Touma: ...I don't like thinking about it this way, but with everything given, it's likely that he planned to die, or at the very least _wanted_ to.

Tenn: ....

Ryuu: Tenn, I know you don't wanna think about it, but we need to talk about it...

Riku: Just for now, Tenn-nii! That way, we can find who really killed him!

Tenn: fine...

Iori: ...thank you, kujou-san..

Iori: Starting off, let's talk about the motive. Nanase-san, could you please?

Riku: Ah! Uhm, the motives we have are the air thinning out, the captives, and the one where you can bring someone with you if you kill and get away with it...

Iori: Ah..that's not what I was exactly talking about, Nanase-san. It's that thing we found when investigating the room...

Riku: Oh! You mean the–

Riku: ...

Riku: The note Yaotome-san wrote... to Manager.

Iori: yes...that.. you took pictures of it, right?

Riku: Mhmm! Uh.... here it is!

Riku: Uhm, do you want me to read it out loud? It's kind of hard to see depending on where you are...

Iori: Could you please?

Riku: Okay! _Ahem_

Riku: "Takanashi Tsumugi, will you do me the honors of being my dearly beloved Yaotome Tsumugi. Before you scold me about not wanting to jeopardize my career as an idol, I have thought long and hard about it, and I would not want to do anything that would make you sad or feel regret for being mine. Tsumugi, you are everything to me. I would not want to live a dishonest life by your side, and I know that you feel the same. I wish to become your everything as you are mine. There isn’t a day that passes that I do not think of you. I would fight God if it meant I could be by your side. You are such an impressive person with a kind heart. Every time I am with you, I find myself falling more and more in love with the person you are. Even if I am an idol, I cannot live my life as a lie, and my honest truth is you. So Takanashi Tsumugi, please let me become more than your idol and let me become your man."

Iori: Thank you, Nanase san. So as you have just heard, Yaotome-san had planned on proposing...and well when that..you know. When that happened and then... Ahem. So with that in mind, anyone would be mentally fragile, and from what I knew of Yaotome-san, he is a very righteous man who doesn’t like to do nothing, but he is also very selfless..

Yamato: ...Knowing Yaotome, he'd probably sacrifice himself for the rest of us, saying something along the lines of "you all have more to live for" or something like that.

Minami: That leaves the question of the culprit, though. If it is as you say, then wouldn't the other half reveal themself or why was there a need for another half in the first place?

Momo: Do you think it's because they wanted to take someone out with them? Like in the motives!

Sougo: Could be, but would Yaotome-san really agree to die even if it meant he could be dragging others down with him?

Haruka: ...Normally, I think he wouldn't.

Touma: But these are some pretty different circumstances... His mindset could be anywhere after what he just experienced.

Yuki: That is very much a possibility

Iori: Yes, so with this in mind, is that enough to assume that it is a very much likely possibility for Yaotome-san to assist in his own murder?

Momo: It sounds like a possibility, at least! As much as I don't want to believe it...

Riku: Mm, it's hard to believe someone like Yaotome san would assist in his own death, but...

Yamato: It sounds plausible.

Tenn: ...

Tenn: okay

Iori: Kujou-san...

Sougo: Hmmm so that would mean that the time slot could have been any time and not just when the lights went out.

Yamato: Steamroller Sougo strikes again...

Touma: He's right, though. The murder could have been at any point in time, and Yaotome Gaku would only have to turn the lights off before he died to clear the killer of suspicion.

Mitsuki: And that would mean that...wouldn't it be likely for it to be someone close to Yaotome.

Haruka: ...That's true. If he planned to die, he'd only ask someone really close to him for something like that...

Sougo: That's true..normally but-

Ryuu: What is it, Sougo-kun?

Sougo: Considering Yaotome-san, wouldn't he do what's right?

Sougo: So in Yaotome san's eyes..what's right?

Yamato: ...He thinks he doesn't have much to live for, probably considers the hostages or the air thinning out motives, and decides it's better if someone kills him.

Yamato: He'd probably ask someone really close to the hostages or the people at the most risk for the air thinning motive to kill him...

Sougo: But that doesn't make sense...why would he help someone if that was his motive? Wouldn't we all be at risk if we fail?

Tamaki: ...MOUUU THIS IS SO HARDDD

Sougo: Tamaki-kun, we gotta stay put together. I know it's hard, but can you please bear with it.

Tamaki: Mmm I don't wanna suspect anyone, but I know we have to...

Riku: I get that it's hard to understand, though... Normally Yaotome san wouldn't risk people like that, right? But he did, and no one knows why!

Minami: Let's think of it this way, then. Since we established what was like Yaotome san's mindset, let's brainstorm the possible motives of the actual killer.

Momo: It's most probably one of the motives Kinako assigned us, right? No one here would kill Gaku just because he asked!

Sougo: So then it's a question of which one hmm...

Yamato: It's pretty likely that it's a combination of the killer being able to bring someone out with them and one of the remaining two motives.

Mitsuki: The other 2 would be the thinning air and the remaining hostages...wouldn't that make I7 the most suspicious? The only hostages left are Banri-san and the President, and the thinning air is most dangerous to Riku.

Tamaki: That's trueee.

Nagi: But... All of us were with someone except...

Yamato: ...Ichi.

Mitsuki: Hold on, I don't think Iori did it

Touma: What makes you say that?

Mitsuki: Uhmmmmm

Mitsuki:....

Riku: I don't think Iori did it either!

Riku: He wouldn't...

Touma: Oi, wait up, Riku. Remember what you told me, what your determination was? Didn't you say you wanted to find out who did it no matter what so you could forgive them? Iori might be the culprit, so why are you keeping your vision narrow? How are you so sure that he didn't do it?

Riku: I...

Riku: I don't know.

Riku: I'm not sure, I just...

Riku: ...I know it's unfair that I'm keeping personal bias.

Riku: But something tells me it's not him... So it can't be!

Touma: But what if it is? Will you be able to accept that truth and send him to punishment? Are you willing to do that, Riku? How strong is your will?

Riku: ...I'm not sure.

Riku: I don't think I can really be sure how strong I am when the time finally comes...

Riku: All I know is, right now, that I don't think it's Iori. And for now, that's enough for me!

Iori: _sigh,_ I can't take this anymore..Nanase-san, I'm glad you have faith in me, but...this makes it all the more harder for me? Can't you see how obvious this is? The more you try to deny it....

Tenn: Izu-

Iori: I just couldn't stand by and watch as you slowly withered away. Nanase-san, you shine so brightly and the world deserves to see you. Please believe me.

Riku: Eh? Iori, what are you talking about?

Riku: ...No, it's not you. It can't be-!

Mitsuki: I agree-

Mitsuki: It just can't be.

Iori: Nii san… I’m-

Iori: No, I made up my mind already....

Iori: Please just stop this charade. As long as Nanase san is well, I can rest in peace...so please end this already. And please take care of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol fINALLY here's a new one
> 
> More info has been revealed >:3 Any new guesses? Leave em in the comments :D


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